Two teams headed in opposite directions heading toward the Olympic break face off Saturday night when the Vegas Golden Knights host the Seattle Kraken in Las Vegas.
The Golden Knights enter the contest tied for first place in the Pacific Division with the Edmonton Oilers but have lost three in a row and five of their last six games. Meanwhile, Seattle, third in the Pacific, five points behind the Golden Knights and Oilers, brings in a three-game win streak and has won four of its last five.
Vegas, plagued by slow starts and giveaways throughout the season, comes in off a 5-4 shootout loss to the visiting Dallas Stars on Thursday. In an all-too-familiar pattern, the Golden Knights fell behind 4-1 after two periods but then rallied to tie it with three consecutive goals, the final one a 6-on-5 score by Mitch Marner on a shot from the left point through traffic that went bar-down on Jake Oettinger.
“Honestly, was just shooting for a rebound or a tip there and luckily I found the net,” Marner said.
Vegas survived a Jason Robertson breakaway in overtime but still failed to garner the extra point in the shootout. Robertson scored in the first round, and Mikko Rantanen sealed the win for the Stars leading off the third round with a score after Pavel Dorofeyev and Jack Eichel both failed to score on their attempts. The Golden Knights fell to 1-6 in shootouts this season.
Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy was so frustrated by the team’s start that he decided to do a video session between the second and third period.
“I don’t know if I’ve done that in 10 years,” said Cassidy, who also called his team’s turnover problems in their own zone “baffling.”
“It’s strange in the NHL that you’d be doing that mid-game, but if that’s what it takes to get their attention and get it right, then that’s what we’ll have to do. We’re going to do whatever it takes to win, or play better.”
Seattle, behind two goals by Shane Wright and 29 saves by Joey Daccord, comes in off a record-breaking 5-2 victory over Toronto on Thursday. It marked the first time in franchise history that the Kraken, who defeated the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Tuesday, scored five or more goals in consecutive home games.
“We’re dialed in into playing the right way,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “It’s not always perfect, but when you try and play the right way, I’ve said it all year long, often times you end up on the right side of it, and you give yourselves a good chance to win. And that’s what we’ve been doing lately, so credit to our guys.”
Matty Beniers scored a goal, his 10th in the month of January, a franchise record for most goals in a month, while Jared McCann had a goal and an assist to set the team mark for most points in a month with 19 (nine goals, 10 assists).
This is the second of four meetings between the two teams. The Kraken won the first one 2-1 on Oct. 11 in Seattle on a goal by McCann with 3.8 seconds left in overtime and 26 saves from Daccord.
–Field Level Media
