Kraken Hoping Not To Be Lastest Prey For Predators Saturday At CPA

The surprise success of the 2022-23 Seattle Kraken has been replicated this season, only not by the Kraken.

Seattle's opponent Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena, the Nashville Predators, have shocked the NHL by all but wrapping up a Western Conference playoff berth.

Like last year's Kraken, the Preds have been a force on the road, with a 20-10-3 record. They're undefeated in regulation in their last 13, 11-0-2.

From THN Nashville's Rob Couch: "While the goaltending has been lights out and Juuse Saros in particular looks like he could carry the Predators through a couple of playoff rounds, Roman Josi is in peak Norris form at age 33. He has been as hot as any defender in the NHL."

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said his team isn't giving up on its long-long-longshot playoff hopes.

"I've talked about having a real short memory and focusing on the job at hand. We have to do a better job on offense, so we're not defending as much.

"Against Washington (a 2-1 defeat Thursday), it was the first touch. We weren't coming up with enough pucks on the forecheck. When we did, we didn't hold enough of those pucks to get into offensive zone structure."

At the same time, for the Kraken to break a three game home losing streak, they'll again lean on their 8th-ranked defense. Seattle is allowing a miserly 2.8 goals per game.

"We have a lot of trust in the forwards coming back for us," defenseman Adam Larsson said recently. "We have to focus on what makes us successful," said one of those forwards, leading scorer Jared McCann.

Since losing center Alex Wennberg to the Rangers at the trade deadline, McCann has settled into a permanent role as a pivot.

"I feel I can do both. Wings are more positional play. Centermen, you have to be all over the ice, always skating. You have to support your defense and wingers, always be in the right spots."

Personnel-wise, Philipp Grubauer is expected to start in Seattle's net. Defenseman Vince Dunn isn't expected to play, while winger Jaden Schwartz will be a game-time decision.

In an effort to juice his offense, Hakstol said to expect mixing and matching of line combinations, compared to what the team was using 10 days ago.