The 19-18-and-4 Detroit Red Wings place their 6-game winning streak on the line when they host the Seattle Kraken today at 3 PM EST (on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/KHN/KONG/NHL Network/Sportsnet/97.1 FM).
While the Kraken possess an 18-22-and-3 record, the team still believes that it can make a run for a Western Conference playoff spot; the Red Wings can say the same, as they find themselves in a dogfight for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.
The Kraken snapped a 4-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon, and Field Level Media describes the Kraken’s victory thusly:
The Kraken will be playing the second game of a back-to-back. They snapped a four-game losing streak with a win at Buffalo, 6-2, on Saturday. Seattle trailed 2-0 after the first, tied it in the second and scored four times in the third.
Kaapo Kakko had a pair of third-period goals. He scored one goal in his first nine games with the Kraken after being traded by the New York Rangers.
“(Coach Dan Bylsma) obviously made it pretty clear that (our first period) wasn’t good enough, which I think everybody could agree with,” said forward Oliver Bjorkstrand, who also scored. “We had to find another step in our game. I think we responded well. And we have to play hockey like that more often. So tomorrow, we have to find a way to start that way…get a lead and build off of that instead of coming from behind.”
Seattle is still four games under .500 and trying to claw back into the playoff picture. The game on Sunday will be the middle contest of a five-game road trip.
“It’s playoff hockey for us right now; we’re trying to win as many games, collect as many points as we can,” said center Chandler Stephenson, who recorded two assists on Saturday. “It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing. We’re just trying to keep distractions away and just trying to focus on us.”
SeattleKraken.com’s Allison Lukan posted a game preview from the Kraken’s perspective this morning…
One: Hooked on a Feeling
The Kraken are playing “playoff hockey” right now – where every single game and every single point matters. And when it comes to what can help fuel the group to find success, it goes beyond the X’s and O’s. After the 6-2 win in Buffalo, head coach Dan Bylsma said that what the team needs to take from that comeback effort is “the feeling of digging in, the feeling of competing and winning a hockey game. Being able to believe in each other, believe in the group, and believe if you keep playing the right way you can, you can come back in games. We got the result… that’s how you have to play each and every night to try to have success….” What does that mean for execution? It’s about how the Kraken played in the final 40 minutes versus Buffalo with energy and direct play supported by the work to get bodies net front. There were Kraken bodies around “the blue” on the goals from Andre Burakovsky, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Kaapo Kakko’s second. It also means having better starts. “We keep having to find our way back,” Bjorkstrand said. “It has to come from hard work. We have to be ready from the start.”
Two: Improving Defense
Two games ago, Seattle wasn’t happy with their defensive play that led to goals against. Bylsma post-game made the important observation that the objective is not to simply out-score the opposition, it’s to “win the hockey game with more goals than they have” and that means no defensive lapses. The Kraken held Buffalo well below the four-goals-per-game average they’d generated over the past eight contests. And considering the offensive weapons that the Sabres had, the defensive effort was particularly solid. “I thought that probably the best part of our game was in the second period, how we defended,” Bylsma said. The team played well as a unit of five in Bylsma’s estimation: blocking shots and defending all over the zone. That will need to be a continued focus point for the Kraken.
And the Kraken play-by-play announcer Mike Benton has posted a podcast in which he discusses the upcoming match-up with Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Kal:
🚨 NEW KRAKEN THIS MORNING!🚨
— Seattle Kraken Audio Network (@KrakenAudioNet) January 12, 2025
What are the Kraken up against on Sunday with the Red Wings?
🎙️ @Benton_Mike joins @KenKalDRW
Listen » https://t.co/gpL0UwLTsS pic.twitter.com/yIQaZTKXjO
Here are today’s game notes:
Update: MLive’s Tyler Kuehl also posted a game preview from the Red Wings’ perspective:
Sure, [the Red Wings] have not been waxing their opponents, with each win during this stretch coming by two goals or less, but the fact the Wings are showing solid defensive structures along with timely goal scoring is a sign this team might finally be getting over the hump. Detroit comes into Sunday sixth in the Atlantic Division, two points back of the last Wild Card spot.
The Kraken were hoping they could at least be in the postseason conversation this season, but the league’s youngest franchise has not had the proper consistency to be among the NHL’s upper echelon as they did in their second season. With four straight losses on their record prior to beating the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, Seattle is seventh in the Pacific Divison, nine points out of a Wild Card in the Western Conference.
This is the first of two meetings between the Red Wings and Kraken. The two sides split their regular-season series last year.
