The Seattle Kraken face the Chicago Blackhawks with both teams looking to build off of promising starts to the season. The Blackhawks started the year 0-2 but have won back-to-back games to move to 2-2 on the season while the Kraken have a 2-2-2 record this season. Both teams are looking to improve in the Western Conference and start the season strong and upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Kraken have looked promising to start the season but hope the offense can step up, scoring only 2.83 goals per game. Jaden Schwartz, Andre Burakovsky, and Jared McCann have scored seven goals and seven assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Jordan Eberle and Ryan Donato can step up as they play a pivotal role in the forward unit but have only scored one goal and four assists on the season thus far.
While the offense has struggled, the defense has been awful to start the season, allowing 3.67 goals per game with 16 goals in the last four games. Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn have led the top two pairings but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to find open shots on the net at will. Moreover, goaltender Philipp Grubauer has struggled in the net with a .860 save percentage and a 3.77 goals-against average on 86 shots.