Previewing Ducks’ Back-to-Back Set with Faltering Kraken

Given the struggles of both teams, it should be an even contest. Let’s preview the back-to-back set by looking at personnel, storylines, and tactics. 

A Tale of the Tape

While one place in the Pacific Division standings is all that separates these two clubs, there is a decisive gap in their records. The Ducks sit seventh with a 24-43-4 record (52 points), while the Kraken sit sixth at a 28-29-13 record (69 points). Over the month of March, the Ducks have amassed a 3-8-1 record, while the Kraken, stunningly, have gone 2-9 and permanently removed themselves from any playoff discussions. It signifies a steep regression from last season when they went 46-28-8 en route to the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs where they fell to the Dallas Stars. 

Back on Dec. 23, these two clubs played a back-and-forth, tightly-contested game that ended 3-2 in favor of the Kraken. That game notably marked the return of wunderkind Trevor Zegras from an early-season injury, who made a splash with a vintage Michigan-style goal. With Zegras on the mend and nearing a return from a different injury, he ironically may return during one of these two games with Seattle. Whether he’s in or out, let’s examine which team has the advantage in the various areas of play, and then make a prediction on how the mini-series will play out. 

Offensive Advantage: Even

This is a fair evaluation. The Ducks have rarely been at full strength, so we don’t know what their offense looks like when healthy. Yet, they’ve scored 177 goals to the Kraken’s 185. Like the Ducks, the Kraken are really struggling to score lately which makes it a relatively even battle on this side of the puck.

On an individual basis, no player nor collective offense is impressing anybody, but the top-six contingent on either side is nevertheless evenly loaded with playmaking potential. If Zegras plays, you can probably give the edge to the Ducks in talent. Between Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, Mason McTavish, and the resurgent Frank Vatrano, there’s more than enough there for the Ducks to put down a slumping Kraken squad. Meanwhile, the Kraken offense boasts Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, All-Star Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Eeli Tolvanen. Even the sophomore-slumping Matty Beniers is dangerous. The names from the Ducks I just mentioned are craftier, faster, and more youthful than the Kraken contingent, but we’ll see if that pays any dividends over the 120 minutes of hockey they are due to play. 

Defensive Advantage: Ducks

Perhaps this is a bit of recency bias, but the Ducks more than held their own against the dynamic and dangerous Lightning in their last game. An ill-timed turnover in the offensive zone stood in the way of an otherwise evenly played defensive battle. Collectively, the Ducks were physical, made good decisions, pinched well and closed gaps which neutralized many Lightning players and their ability to make plays, most notably Nikita Kucherov (held pointless in the contest). The Kraken have no Nikita Kucherov, or even a Steven Stamkos type of player, so logic suggests that if they can stop those two, then they have a decent chance of stopping lesser players if they implement a similar, if not identical, game plan.

Moreover, the Ducks boast a wealth of explosive young talent on the backend including Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger to pair with Cam Fowler and Urho Vakaanainen, all of whom were former first-round or early-second-round picks. When healthy, Radko Gudas gives the defensive unit an extra punch physically. This unit, while incredibly mistake-prone, is likewise faster and more skilled than that of the Kraken, which includes offensive dynamo Vince Dunn, stay-at-home defensemen Adam Larsson and Brian Dumoulin, and Jamie Oleksiak. These are hard-nosed veterans who are hard to play against, and pose a challenge for a Ducks forward group that likes to be creative. However, the advantage goes to the Ducks because of their two-game streak of neutralizing their opposition decently well, something the Kraken cannot claim to have done.

Goaltending Advantage: Kraken

To be frank, neither tandem deserves to be given the title “advantage” because both tandems are similarly talented, but similarly struggling. However, numbers tell stories, and those of the Kraken goaltending tandem – Joey Daccord and Philip Grubauer – are superior to those of the Ducks’, principally in goals-against average (save percentage is pretty similar). Each of these four goalies, though, is capable of dominating a game and leading their team to a victory, which is why this phase of the game is rather even, too.

Keys to Victory for Ducks

There are plenty of positives to draw from the Ducks’ recent play against the Blackhawks and Lightning that suggest they are more than capable of competing with the Kraken. Among them were: some timely scoring, pesky defense, sharp penalty killing, and depth contributions in critical moments. It’s rather simple, but if the Ducks can do this, plus convert an opportunity or two on the power play, then a win or a sweep of this mini-series is absolutely in play.

In a Battle Between Two Slumping Teams, Points Are There for the Taking

This type of matchup really only means one thing, which is that this is anybody’s game. Both teams are looking for any excuse to get back in the win column, and both likely see this as their best opportunity to do so. This holds true for the Kraken especially, who likely saw two straight games with the Ducks on the calendar and lit right up. 

While these games may be sloppy and low-quality affairs, that matters little to the Ducks or Kraken, who simply want to finish the campaign strong as the sun begins to set for these non-playoff-bound teams. Puck drop is tonight at 7 PM.