Weekly Lost & Found: Kraken, Coyotes, Ducks & Capitals

It’s another week of surprises in the NHL. Some affirming, some disappointing. Some fanbases may be surprised at where they land in this article, while others may be surprised that it’s taken this long. This edition of the Weekly Lost & Found focuses on two teams who can’t buy a win, and two that can’t stop winning. Hold your breath, we’re diving in.

Lost: Seattle Kraken, Arizona Coyotes Sink Deeper Into the Standings

Kraken Inaugural Year off to a Rough Start, Struggle in Several Areas

The Seattle Kraken’s inaugural season is not off to the start they would’ve hoped. Not only are they last in the Pacific Division, but 30th in the NHL with nine points on just four wins in 15 games. They’ve lost four straight games, which is currently the longest losing streak in the NHL, and lost all three games this past week with a minus-7 goal differential.

The Kraken have two major problems, among everything else that’s gone wrong. The first being their power play. The power play is powerless. They’re 31st in the NHL with a 10.9 percent conversion percentage. Their five power-play goals, scored by four players, is 30th in the NHL.

Their goaltending has been shaky at best. They utilized three goaltenders: Philipp Grubauer being the starter, Chris Driedger the backup and Joey Daccord filling in while Drieger was injured. The trio has combined for a 3.32 goals-against average (GAA) and .873 save percentage (SV%). That’s not going to cut it. Being the starter, and a reigning Vezina nominee, Grubauer is the guy who will have to right the ship.

The Kraken have been hemorrhaging goals while also not managing to fill the net enough themselves to compensate. The Pacific Division has been a surprise so far this season. The team can’t hope to compete against some of these surprise teams, such as the Anaheim Ducks, unless they see a drastic improvement in goal. Even if the power play doesn’t start to pop off, goaltending will be what makes this team or breaks it. 

The Kraken have three games this week. In the middle of a six game homestand, they need to come away with at least a win, or some points. To get swept at home would be a disastrous start. However, all but one win has come at home, so if it were going to happen anywhere, it would be at Climate Pledge Arena.

Coyotes Fully Embracing Rebuild, Still Have Some Bright Spots This Season

It’s finally time to talk about the Coyotes. Despite finding some positives on THW’s What’s Kraken, there’s a lot of pain so far this season for Coyotes fans. They’ve got a lone win and just three points, both last in the league. In addition, their 23 goals for and 59 goals against are the worst in the league. 

Five of the seven wins on their streak have come against teams in the bottom two of their divisions. They’ll face the Capitals and Hurricanes this week, which should be a good test to see if they can keep it going against stronger competition. If their special teams and the play of their veterans and youngsters can stay at this rate, they could be the surprise of the season. 

Capitals Can’t Stop Scoring or Winning

Despite an aging core, which are concerns the Boston Bruins relate to, the Capitals have been rolling. They are riding a four-game winning streak and have won six of their last 10 games. Their 54 goals are fourth-most, and their 36 goals against are fifth-best in the NHL.

They’ve been without several players, including Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie, but have seen massive contributions from Evgeny Kuznetsov coming off a down-year. His six goals and 20 points in 15 games are second only to captain Alex Ovechkin, who’s scoring goals like there’s no tomorrow… and the sky is blue. Ovechkin has 12 goals and 26 points in 15 games.

The Capitals goaltending duo of Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov have played decently. Though, their numbers could be better; a 2.64 GAA and 903 SV% combined. They did see a franchise first through goalie Zach Fucale, as he posted a shutout in his NHL debut before being re-assigned to the American Hockey League (AHL). Despite these average goaltending statistics, the Capitals give their goalies enough goal support that they shouldn’t worry too much.  

The Capitals look to be on track to finish where the THW staff predicted they would, in the top-3 of the Metropolitan Division. While they may want to see a bit more depth scoring, and their power play to return to its usual top-of-the-league form, there are not many indications that they’ll be slowing down any time soon.