Chicago Blackhawks: First time playing against the Seattle Kraken

The Chicago Blackhawks will be making thier first trip to Climate Pledge Arena to take on the Seattle Kraken for the first time ever. It is a very exciting time as the National Hockey League’s 32nd team makes its way through its inaugural season. Both teams have had at least a couple of days’ rest leading up to this game so it should be very fun.

Each team has had its struggles so far this season. They are literally right next to each other in the basement of the Western Conference standings. In 9th place of the Wild Card, the Kraken sit at 4-10-1 for nine points and Chicago is in 8th with a record of 4-9-2 for 10 points. The only team in the conference that has been worse is the Arizona Coyotes at 1-13-1 for three points.

Seattle is not like the Vegas Golden Knights from a few years ago. Vegas came into the league and immediately became one of its most successful franchises. To this day, they are one of the premier teams on the ice as they have been in contention for the Stanley Cup every year.

The Kraken are not there. They took a different approach in the expansion draft and it is showing on the ice. They have smart people running the show there so it may not take long for them to become a winner. As of now, however, the Hawks should be able to win this game.

Jordan Eberle is their scoring leader with 8 goals and four assists for 12 points. Alexander Wennberg leads them with nine goals. Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger are both outstanding goalies but have not hit their stride with the Kraken yet. Playing on a team like this is difficult for them right now as lots of high danger chances come their way.

The Hawks need to make sure that they make things hard on the goalies. Seattle doesn’t do a good job at protecting the house for a full 60 minutes so the Hawks need to get bodies in front. This seems like a very good game for Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Jonathan Toews, and Dominik Kubalik amongst others to put some points on the board.

The Chicago Blackhawks need to take care of their business in Seattle.

Although they are only separated by one standings point, the Hawks are a better team on paper. The tough start shouldn’t be a reason to think otherwise. If they play their game and do a good job defending as they have under King, they should win the game. It is going to be fun to see how it goes.

This is a very important game for Chicago. They have won three in a row and have this bad Seattle team tonight to try and make it four. Following that is a very tough trip through Western Canada where they will play three very tough teams in the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames. Getting two points here feels like a must.