Kraken head into the home stretch
It’s down to the homestretch for the Seattle Kraken.
Seattle’s NHL entry has an extended layoff after the NHL All-Star break taking to the ice for the first time in 11 days when they travel to Philadelphia to face the Flyers (are they the Broad Street Bullies anymore?) on Saturday night.
The Kraken will arrive in the City of Brotherly Love with a 21-19-10 record, placing them fifth in the Pacific Division and 10th in the Western Conference with 52 standings points. The top eight teams from the Pacific and Central Divisions represent the Western Conference in the playoffs.
The St. Louis Blues and the Nashville Predators from the Central Division currently have 54 points, with the Blues (26-21-2) earning the final playoff nod over the Predators (26-23-1). The Predators were one of the teams the Kraken battled for a playoff berth last season.
“The fact is we’ve dug ourselves out of a huge hole the past 23 games,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol in a FOX13 interview. “And now we control our own destiny.”
Also reminiscent of a year ago, the Kraken got red hot after a slow start, reeling off points in 12 consecutive contests from Dec. 12 to Jan. 13. Prior to that run, Seattle went winless in eight straight games.
The turnaround was spearheaded by goalie Joey Daccord, who seemed to be the number-one star every night as he compiled a .921 save percentage and a .232 save percentage for the 2023-24 season. He’s also had `15 quality starts’ in 37 games this season. Apparently, Kraken fans didn’t sufficiently stuff the ballot box to send Daccord to the just concluded All-Star weekend.
A save percentage over .900 means that a netminder allows one goal or less for every ten shots. A .200 save percentage is two goals allowed a game, .300, three goals again etc. The definition of a quality start can be a little more subjective. A quality start is defined as any game in which the goalie does not allow more goals than would be expected. Expected goal models also account for shot quality which can be debatable.
According to an article by The Hockey News’ excellent Seattle correspondent Glenn Dreyfuss, hockey oddsmakers rank the Kraken’s chances of making the playoffs thusly- HockeyReference.com 19.8; PlayoffStatus.com 13.0; PowerRankingsGuru.com 33.1; MoneyPuck.com 42.1.
One drawback to this season, has been the number of overtime and shootout losses (10) by the Kraken. While Seattle received one standings point in those games, the team also blew a lead in several of those games. Converting even a third of those OT losses, the Kraken would be ensconced in a playoff spot.
The Kraken return home on Feb. 19 when they host the Detroit Red Wings. That begins a six-game homestand.
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