The Seattle Kraken and the host Calgary Flames are in the same situation heading into Monday’s meeting at the Saddledome.
With 22 games remaining this season, the distance between themselves and a playoff position is not insurmountable, but the margin for error is razor-thin, which puts even more on the line in their fourth and final meeting between the Pacific Division rivals.
The Kraken finished a middling six-game homestand with a 2-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. A two-game road trip may be good news, seeing as the Kraken have won their past two away from the coffee capital and following a 3-2-1 record in their half-dozen home games.
“A disappointing loss, but you flip the page,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We were 5-1-1 coming into (Saturday’s) game putting up (standings) points, putting up points in the majority of those games. We have to go right back to it.”
The Flames have already dealt away a handful of pending free agents while staying in the playoff fight, but the Kraken are at the point where they must decide whether the time has come to trade the likes of Jordan Eberle, Alex Wennberg, Justin Schultz and Tomas Tatar.
Hakstol said Monday that Wennberg didn’t participate in the morning skate and wouldn’t play against the Flames for trade-related reasons.
The Kraken players would most definitely like to keep the band together in hopes of replicating last spring’s playoff success, but the onus is on them to make a move now.
“It’s frustrating when you only score one goal,” forward Jaden Schwartz told the Seattle Times. “You need results at this time of the year.”
The Flames are getting the results, heading into the affair while on their first five-game winning streak since the 2021-22 season. And even after trading away their best shutdown defenseman Chris Tanev earlier last week, they extended that run with a thrilling 4-3 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
“Unbelievable, I think that’s certainly one of the more exciting games I’ve been a part of,” said center Nazem Kadri, whose goal sparked a three-goal third period that erased a 3-1 deficit. “That’s just who we are. We don’t back down, we don’t quit.”
Calgary has won eight games this season when trailing after two periods, second only to the Detroit Red Wings. They added an extra charge against the Penguins on a night former goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff’s No. 34 was retired. Three goals came in the final 10 minutes, including Yegor Sharangovich’s winner with 50 seconds remaining in regulation.
“Fortunately we’ve done it enough this year that we have that belief that we can win games that way,” said forward Blake Coleman, who tied the game 3-3. “There was no quit, obviously there were some huge individual efforts that got us going, and got us back in this game. We really believe in each other right now and we’re finding ways to string wins together.”
The Flames, who follow Monday’s contest with a three-game road trip, have won two of three meetings with the Kraken this season and have an 8-2-0 all-time record against Seattle.
–Field Level Media
