The Need to Knows:

The Time: 4pm PST

The Place: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey

Place to Watch: KONG, KHN Networks, Amazon Prime, MSG-Sports Network

Place to Listen: KJR 93.3-FM

An Opposing Viewpoint: All About The Jersey

Game Preview

On Monday, the Kraken had a fun comeback win against the Rangers; who are talented, but deeply flawed.

Now? They gotta go face a team with a lot more pain to give. A dangerous, high octane team with some of the most talented offensive players in the world as well as a coach finally allowed to just enjoy himself. And they…

…Are very, very bad right now.

Sure, they beat the Wild and pretty badly at that, but that came out of a truly brutal losing streak that was crowned with a 9-0 loss to the Islanders. In general, whatever this team is, they are not nearly the overwhelming offensive force they were expected to be; they’re still talented, and they like getting their goals from dangerous parts of the ice, but this year they’ve also allowed a lot of dangerous shots themselves, which Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom are usually not the best at dealing with. That’s where they keep running themselves into winnable games and just…not doing that.

That said, the Kraken can’t be complacent at all; the Devils may not be doing well, but they are still very talented; Jack Hughes could still find himself and completely take over a game. Nico Hischier and Timo Meier are still goalscoring menaces, Jesper Bratt is somehow one of the best players in Red and Black and has made himself a major threat at every strength. Even if New Jersey has a middle of the pack power play, they get a ton of their shots through the power play and feast on defenses that aren’t great at boxing out the slot…something the Kraken struggle with on at least one level.

This is definitely the most beatable this team should be in a hot minute…but it’s still a tough challenge. The Kraken need to use a lot of what they learned in beating the Rangers; don’t get mentally down if you’re down in the scoresheet, keep attacking the net, force their backcheck to come get you, and make it as easy as you can on your shooters.

LET’S GO KRAKEN, LET’S GO SQUIDS