On Friday, Jan. 2, the Seattle Kraken will take on the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. The Kraken just beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 last night at Climate Pledge Arena. They’ll hope to start a winning streak on this two-game road trip.
Related: Kraken’s Eeli Tolvanen and Kaapo Kakko Join Team Finland’s Roster
The Canucks lost their last game on Dec. 30, 6-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers. That game kicked off a three-game homestand for the Canucks. They’ll look to get back in the win column in front of their hometown crowd tonight.
The Canucks just beat the Kraken 3-2 in a shootout on Monday, Dec. 29; the Kraken were also on the second half of a back-to-back in that game. Hopefully, the Kraken can make sure the result is not the same tonight.
Kraken Storylines
With Philipp Grubauer’s excellent performance last night, Joey Daccord will be tonight’s netminder. Grubauer put up an impressive save percentage (SV%) of .960%, making 24 saves on 25 shots. In his last three games, Grubauer has only allowed one goal and has recorded three wins. He has been on fire as of late and he definitely deserves a rest.
Another player who has been on fire is Jordan Eberle, who has four goals and two assists for six points in his past five games. Currently on a five-game point streak and the team’s current points leader, let’s see if Eberle can keep the streak alive tonight.
The player to watch in this game is forward Jacob Melanson. He is on a point streak of his own with two assists in his last two games as he recorded an assist on Ryan Winterton’s goal on Dec. 29 and Jamie Oleksiak’s goal on Jan. 1. The young rookie was only called up to the Kraken in mid December and has played nine games so far this season.
Although Jani Nyman was sent down to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Kraken’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Melanson has managed to stay with the team. He has had a strong showing on the fourth line, and he is definitely the one to keep an eye on in this game.
Team Stats
Seattle Kraken
Season Record: 17-14-7
Top Scorers:
- Jordan Eberle – 14 goals (G), 12 assists (A), 26 points (P)
- Eeli Tolvanen – 7 G, 18 A, 25 P
- Chandler Stephenson – 10 G, 14 A, 24 P
- Matty Beniers – 6 G, 17 A, 23 P
- Vince Dunn – 5 G, 15 A, 20 P
Goalie Stats:
- Joey Daccord – 10-9-5, 2.77 goals-against average (GAA), .904 save percentage (SV%)
- Philipp Grubauer – 7-3-1, 2.32 GAA, .922 SV%
- Matt Murray – 0-2-1, 2.21 GAA, .922 SV%
Vancouver Canucks
Season Record: 16-20-3
Top Scorers:
- Elias Pettersson – 9 G, 14 A, 23 P
- Conor Garland – 7 G, 15 A, 22 P
- Filip Hronek – 2 G, 20 A, 22 P
- Kiefer Sherwood – 16 G, 4 A, 20 P
- Evander Kane – 6 G, 13 A, 19 P
Goalie Stats:
- Kevin Lankinen – 6-10-3, 3.41 GAA, .885 SV%
- Thatcher Demko – 8-8-0, 2.72 GAA, .907 SV%
- Nikita Tolopilo – 2-1-0, 2.74 GAA, .911 SV%
- Jiri Patera – 0-1-0, 7.39 GAA, .825 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.
Seattle Kraken
Kaapo Kakko — Matty Beniers — Jordan Eberle
Eeli Tolvanen — Chandler Stephenson — Frederick Gaudreau
Berkly Catton — Shane Wright — Jared McCann
Tye Kartye — Ben Meyers — Jacob Melanson
Vince Dunn — Adam Larsson
Ryan Lindgren — Cale Fleury
Ryker Evans — Jamie Oleksiak
Joey Daccord
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Ryan Winterton, Josh Mahura
Injured: Jaden Schwartz, Brandon Montour, Matt Murray, Max McCormick
Vancouver Canucks
Jake DeBrusk — Elias Pettersson — Linus Karlsson
Evander Kane — Max Sasson — Brock Boeser
Drew O’Connor — David Kampf — Kiefer Sherwood
Liam Ohgren — Aatu Raty — Nils Hoglander
Marcus Pettersson — Filip Hronek
Zeev Buium — Tyler Myers
Pierre-Olivier Joseph — Tom Willander
Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: Arshdeep Bains, Elias Pettersson
Injured: Conor Garland, Marco Rossi, Filip Chytil, Teddy Blueger, Guillaume Brisebois, Derek Forbort
Next Up for the Kraken
The Kraken will continue their Canadian road trip and take on the Calgary Flames on Monday, Jan. 5.
