The Seattle Kraken will try to keep their fading playoff hopes alive when they visit the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
A 3-5-1 record in the last nine games has put Seattle behind five teams fighting for the second wild-card slot in the Western Conference. With the NHL trade deadline looming on Friday, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Kraken move some veteran players rather than add talent for a long-shot playoff run.
Tuesday’s 4-3 home loss to the Minnesota Wild saw the Kraken fall short in their comeback attempt. Shane Wright and Brandon Montour scored late in the second period to make it a one-goal game. The Kraken then outshot the Wild 11-1 in the third period but couldn’t net the equalizer.
Early deficits are nothing new for the Kraken, who have been outscored 145-102 in the first two periods of games this season. Seattle is outscoring opponents 76-53 in third periods, in what often has been a case of too little, too late.
“We had a push, we had all the good looks, but we couldn’t finish one,” Wright said about Tuesday’s third period. “I feel like we’re finding ourselves in deep holes earlier on the games, [and] having to claw our way back too many times.”
Wright has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) over his last 13 games.
If the Kraken are only on the outskirts of the postseason chase, the Predators sit five points behind Seattle and are more firmly in the mode of sellers at the trade deadline. Gustav Nyquist already was dealt to the Wild earlier this week, and more roster shakeups could come before the puck drops on Thursday.
Amid the trade speculation, the Predators delivered one of their best performances of the season in Tuesday’s 6-3 road win over the Boston Bruins. It was a rare offensive breakout for a Nashville team averaging only 2.59 goals per game.
“Hopefully we can grab this one and … try to find some joy on Thursday and continue through the process of enjoying the game a little bit,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We’ve put so much pressure on ourselves all year, so a night like (Tuesday) feels good.”
The top line of Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Evangelista combined for three goals and five assists against Boston. Stamkos had a goal and two assists, ending the star forward’s 13-game point drought.
Juuse Saros likely will face Seattle, though Nashville could opt to give backup Justus Annunen more playing time as the season winds down. Saros has an .898 save percentage and a 14-25-6 record over 46 starts, leading all goaltenders in losses.
Joey Daccord has played in 18 of Seattle’s last 19 games, a heavy workload even factoring the league’s two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Philipp Grubauer served as Daccord’s backup on Tuesday after being recalled from the American Hockey League, and Grubauer could be in line for his first NHL action since Jan. 28.
Filip Forsberg leads Nashville in goals (22), assists (33) and points (55), while Jared McCann leads Seattle with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists).
The Kraken can sweep their season series with the Predators on Thursday. The Kraken won 7-3 in Nashville on Oct. 15 and 3-0 in Seattle on Nov. 20.
