Pursuing a return to the win column: previewing the Kraken hosting the Penguins, January 25th, 2025
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Coming off a frustrating yet understandable loss to the league leading Washington Capitals back on Thursday, our Seattle Kraken host the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second 1PM PST puck drop time in a three-game stretch. The Kraken are looking to put themselves back into the win column with every result looking ever important considering how deep they are in the Western Conference standings, while the Penguins continue to reel with just three wins across the eleven games that they’ve played so far in the month of January. It’s a battle of mid for these two teams at Climate Pledge Arena, and hopefully the children in attendance for today’s “Kids game” won’t notice that and the Buoy the troll themed slippers given to the first 5,000 kids through the doors helps distract them from these two teams in need of a serious retooling. With that being said, it’s still our job to cover the team, so here’s today’s game preview ahead of Penguins at Kraken.
Kraken looking to keep recent positive form
Seattle’s last game out wasn’t ideal, getting shutout by the NHL’s current top team in the Washington Capitals by a final score of 3-0, but it really wasn’t the worst game that the Kraken have played so far this season. The third Washington goal of the night, which pushed Alex Ovechkin within 20 goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record, was an empty netter and the two goals that Seattle allowed with a goalie in net came off mistakes with the puck that could’ve been avoided. The losses when things are within reach are the most frustrating in professional sports, and the Kraken have far too many of those kinds of results during their existence in the NHL so far. Seattle generated some good looks within the first period of this contest and looked as though they were building momentum towards a first goal of the game, but nothing came of it and that sort of energy seemingly died down as the game went on as they only recorded a pathetic four shots on goal in the middle frame. They’ve been better in the offensive zone in recent memory, scoring four or more goals in three of their last four games before the loss to the Capitals, but they’re still a team that’s inconsistent and has too many defensive issues, especially for a team paying that much money to players on their blue line. The trade deadline looms heavily, even if the Kraken haven’t decided to throw the towel in on the season quite yet. Seattle has been able to avoid that dark cloud of change lately because of the wins, but it can come back quickly if they start to tumble.
Sights from the last time that the Pittsburgh Penguins visited the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena back on February 29th, 2024. (Photos by Liz Wolter for Circling Seattle Sports)
Penguins pushing for points as of late
The Penguins are also in a place of struggle this season like the Kraken, but are perhaps in even more of a pressure situation to perform considering the talent on their roster and the market that they’re in. Pittsburgh has lost nine of their last 12 games and they are now without a key contributor in Bryan Rust after he left the Anaheim loss due to lower-body injury that has him classified as day-to-day. The Kraken had some success against the Penguins last time these teams played, the 14th of the month in Pittsburgh as Seattle used a three-goal third period to seal a comeback effort, and it’s really just gotten worse for them since then. With yesterday’s big trade featuring the Avalanche, Hurricanes, and Chicago, there are the cries for the Penguins to send Sidney Crosby to the Avalanche in a move that would give him a far better chance at another cup than his current situation, but that seems like more of a pipe dream/fan fiction for Paul Bissonnette as opposed to anything that Pittsburgh would actually do.
Lineup/morning skate/injury notes
Considering that this is a 1PM PST puck drop game, neither team held a morning skate but the Kraken did hold a full team practice yesterday morning at the Kraken Community Iceplex. It was an intriguing practice for Seattle, not for what the team was working on when they hit the ice as a unit but rather the fact that there were three key contributors missing from the day entirely. Yesterday, in our Kraken practice notebook, we reported that forwards Chandler Stephenson and Jared McCann and defenseman Ryker Evans were all missing from the session. Head coach Dan Bylsma said that all three of those players are considered gametime decisions for this game against the Penguins, and with no morning skate its hard to tell if any of them will be truly available for this game against Pittsburgh. Stephenson is dealing with what Bylsma classified as an upper-body injury, leaving the game against the Capitals on Thursday initially after blocking a shot with his hand before coming back out to finish the second period, not playing the entire third period. While “Stevie” did not practice with the main group yesterday, which made things seem extra bad considering that after the game against Washington Chandler would need “further evaluation,” he did skate on his home to try and “test things out.” If there was any real concern for any of the three, Seattle would’ve called someone up from AHL affiliate Coachella Valley especially considering that the Kraken currently only have the minimum six defensemen on their NHL roster but that hasn’t happened quite yet and it’s the morning of the game. Forward wise in the scenario that Stephenson or McCann cannot go for this game, young forward Tye Kartye has been a healthy scratch for the last portion of games as John Hayden has slotted into his position on the fourth line and makes the most sense to be inserted back into the lineup. If both of those forwards are unable to play, the Kraken should’ve made a move by now to replace him or if they felt that the caution was necessary enough to warrant the call up.
With all that being said, due to the lack of a move by Seattle at this point of the morning of the game, my expectation is that we’ll see the same lineup from the last few games.
Starting goaltender matchup
Similar to the injury notes above, in my Kraken practice notebook from yesterday I chronicled why it’s likely going to be Philipp Grubauer in net for Seattle today against the Penguins. Grubauer was first of the two goalies on the roster to head over to rink two (Smartsheet) and work with netminder coach Steve Briere, he practiced on the “starters net” throughout the course of the practice, was the first goaltender off the ice, and considering the number of games that Joey Daccord has played in consecutively (Eight). All of those factors combined, with the first three being the typical indicators from a morning skate to watch for during a morning skate the day of a game, point to Grubauer making the start today against Pittsburgh considering that its an easier opponent and you’ll need him for the upcoming back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday so having a game under his belt before then should help with rhythm.
For the Penguins, things could be a toss up in net. Pittsburgh placed longtime netminder Tristan Jarry on waivers the day after the Kraken beat them, and their tandem now features Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist. Nedeljkovic was who the Penguins started in net when they took the ugly loss to the Anaheim Ducks back on Thursday, so perhaps after Alex gave up four goals against Pittsburgh will go with Blomqvist in goal against Seattle. We’ll just have to see on that part because of how nobody from the Penguins beat seems to know either quite yet.
The head-to-head match up
When it comes to these two teams and their history against each other, our Seattle Kraken hold a 5-2-0 record all-time against the Pittsburgh Penguins, including a 2-1-0 mark within the friendly confines of Climate Pledge Arena. The two wins that the Penguins have over the Kraken are three years apart, with Pittsburgh proving victorious in the first ever matchup between the teams back on December 6th, 2021 in the only loss Seattle has suffered against the team at home. In that 6-1 win for the Penguins, the Kraken gave up three goals in the first period as a soon to be Seattle defenseman Brian Dumoulin recorded two assists throughout the night and Jordan Eberle scored the only goal (assists to Alex Wennberg and Jaden Schwartz) for the home side with Joey Daccord finishing the game out after Philipp Grubauer was pulled following the first three goals against. Outside of that contest and the last game between these teams, just a few weeks ago when the Kraken won by a score of 4-2, these matchups typically are lower scoring with neither team scoring more than three goals in a game besides the two aforementioned instances. As a newer franchise in the NHL, it’s always interesting to see how the team will perform against some of the games greatest of all time, and Seattle has seemingly done pretty well during their now four year existence against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Players to Watch
For the Kraken, three forwards come to mind as players to keep an eye on in Jared McCann, Andre Burakovsky, and Kaapo Kakko. “Canner,” a former Penguin, enters this game with eight points (One goal, seven assists) in his last nine games dating back to January 6th, including two multi-point efforts. The forward leads all Kraken in points (36) and even strength points (28) and is second in goals (14) and assists (22). McCann, who played three seasons with Pittsburgh has four points (One goal, three assists) in 13 career games against his former club. Andre Burakovsky leads active Kraken skaters in assists (9) and points (14) and shares second in goals (5) in 25 career games versus Pittsburgh, so maybe this matchup against the Penguins could be a great opportunity for Burky to showcase the sort of skill that he was brought to Seattle for even if it’s a bit too late in his current contract to do so. Kaapo Kakko has a team-high seven goals to go along with nine points (Seven goals, two assist) in 18 career games against the Penguins, and we’re really looking to see if the Schwartz-Beniers-Kakko line can return to their incredible efficiency and point scoring following a quieter game in the effort against the Capitals back on Thursday.
For the Penguins, keep an eye on Michael Bunting, Matt Nieto, and Sidney Crosby. Bunting enters this game after scoring on the power play in Pittsburgh's latest matchup on January 23rd, a loss to the Anaheim Ducks. It was the winger's ninth power-play goal of the season, which leads all Penguin skaters and is tied for sixth in the NHL. With 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in 48 games this season, Bunting has six points (One goal, five assists) in seven career games against Seattle. Penguins forward Matt Nieto is looking to suit up in his 700th career NHL game. Nieto has played parts of 12 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks. The Long Beach, CA native ranks fourth in points among active California-born players and is fifth all-time. And with Crosby, the face of the NHL for so long and one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of skates, he enters tonight’s game just one point shy of surpassing Hall-of-Famer Joe Sakic for sole possession of the 10th-most road points in NHL history.
Key storylines to watch today
Can the Kraken bounce back offensively after being shutout by Washington last game?
Seattle’s offensive issues are well chronicled dating back to last season, that’s part of the reason they went out and spent so much money on Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour this past offseason while acquiring Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers last month. While the Kraken sit just below league average when it comes to their offensive production in goals per game, they do have great numbers dating back to December 28th: the day that they returned to game action from the NHL’s holiday break and used a wild comeback to beat the Vancouver Canucks on the road. Since that day, Seattle ranks sixth best in all of the league in goals per game at 3.23, just behind the Predators, Red Wings, Rangers, Oilers, and Blues, all teams with more forward talent than the Kraken possess. Seattle has done a largely solid job the past two weeks generating offense, even if it comes in unsustainable comeback fashion, but they got blanked last game against the Washington Capitals and their backup netminder. The Kraken need to do a better job of getting to the harder areas again to spark their offense, as we know it can get rolling for Seattle any time.
How will special teams affect this game?
The Kraken special teams units are seemingly always in the lower third of the league in terms of where they rank, which is unfortunate and no surprise considering that this group of players has largely remained the same even despite coaching changes for that aspect of the game over the course of their four-year existence. While the power play for Seattle has seen a slight bump to 17th in the league since the month of January began, a slight bump should be emphasized as they sit at 25th in the league for the season so far, but the penalty kill has really struggled dating back to the beginning of the month or even back to when the Kraken played in Pittsburgh. Dating back to the first of the month, the Seattle kill ranks 28th in the league and dating back to that last game against the Penguins they rank 29th in the league, both bad marks and slightly worse than their overall season standing of 23rd. While the Pittsburgh kill has been just about league average so far on the year, their power play is a notable strength of this somewhat aimless team as they sit 6th overall on the man advantage so far for the season and has stayed that way for the month at 7th so far, even better so dating back to when they hosted Seattle. The Penguins power play has bumped up to second in the league since that January 14th game against the Kraken, which is why Seattle must stay smart and ensure they remain out of the box today.
Will Philipp Grubauer get any run support?
If things track like we think that they will and Philipp Grubauer makes the start tonight, ideally giving Joey Daccord a break after he’s played in eight consecutive games for the Kraken, will “The German Gentleman” get any run support from the team in front of him? It’s been something of discussion for Grubauer’s entire career in a Seattle jersey, and hasn’t really been something that’s changed over the four years either so it’ll remain a decision until he goes to another team. His last few games haven’t been his best during a year where he’s largely been serviceable despite downright bad defensive play in front of him, but with the rest and hopefully a solid effort in front of him, Grubauer should be able to handle this struggling Pittsburgh team. If Seattle can avoid being shutout for a second straight game or make sure to score more than once, than the Kraken should see success today.
Can the Kraken contain some all-time greats?
While they’re older now and not quite the top superstars in the NHL that they were in their prime, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for the Penguins are two players that the Kraken absolutely must still pay attention to and try to lock down. While it’s obviously a thing that any team tries to do in professional sports, contain the oppositions star players, there is some math to this for Pittsburgh: the Penguins own an overall record of 399-90-49 when both Crosby and Malkin record a point in a game. There are obviously other factors that go into a game, but containing two of the games greatest players to ever hit the ice sure would help.
How to watch tonight’s game
For those who won’t be joining us within the friendly confines of Climate Pledge Arena, this game is viewable on the Kraken Hockey Network and KONG in the local market and ESPN+ for those who aren’t in the local market. For those in the state of the Washington, here’s the list of Seattle Kraken audio network affiliates: Seattle KJR 93.3 FM (Flagship station), Spokane KIX 99.3 FM, Tri-Cities KJOX 1340 AM, Mount Vernon KAPS 660 AM and 102.1 FM, Port Angeles KONP 1450 AM and 101.7 FM, Forks KBDB 96.7 FM, Olympia KAYO 96.9 FM/KGY 95.3 FM, Bellingham KPUG 1170AM or KGMI 790 AM, Yakima KBBO 1390 AM, Shelton KMAS 1030 AM/103.3 FM, Colfax KRAO 102.5 FM, Ellensburg KXLE 95.3 FM, and Aberdeen KSWW 102.1 FM. For those in the state of Oregon: Portland KPOJ 620 AM, Astoria KCRX 102.3 FM, Hood River/The Dalles KIHR 1340 AM and 98.3 FM, Corvallis KEJO 1240 AM. For those in Alaska: Anchorage KTZN 550 AM, Juneau KTKU 105.1 FM, Ketchikan KTKN 930 AM and 95.7 FM, Kenai KSRM 920 AM, Sitka KIFW 1230 AM, Kodiak Is. KVOK 560 AM/98.7 FM, and Fairbanks KKED 104.7 FM. For those in Idaho, you can find it on St Maries KOFE 1240 AM and those in Montana can find it on Missoula KKVU 102.9 FM. If you want to watch the game alongside other Kraken fans or just be out of the house, you can click here for a list of Anchor Alliance bars including the home of Circling Seattle Sports, Rough & Tumble Pub!
What's next after this game?
Following this early afternoon contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the fourth of nine contests at Climate Pledge Arena for them over a span of ten games, our Seattle Kraken will hold a practice tomorrow morning (At least, it’s currently scheduled that way) at the Kraken Community Iceplex before getting on a plane that day in anticipation for their next game. That next matchup is the first of a Pacific division back-to-back as they head to Canada for a battle against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place with a puck drop time of 6:30PM PST that will be broadcast live on the Kraken Hockey Network (Amazon Prime) and KONG. The second contest of that back-to-back sees Seattle return home for a 7PM PST puck drop back at Climate Pledge Arena against the Anaheim Ducks. With how difficult the Washington game was back on Thursday and that Edmonton game will be on Monday, a game like today’s against the Penguins is somewhat a must win for the Kraken considering where they are in the standings and how they are seemingly still chasing a playoff spot considering there are no signs of throwing in the towel yet from the organization.
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