As the Kraken strive toward their first postseason appearance, there will be a number of key items to watch for down the stretch.
They took care of several in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks at Climate Pledge Arena, their fifth consecutive victory.
Here are three thoughts from the game.
Avoid the trap
The Kraken have a relatively soft schedule down the stretch, on which they must capitalize. That’s especially true at home, where they are 16-12-3 compared with 21-9-3 on the road.
They lost to Anaheim in overtime to start the season and have dropped games to Chicago, Montreal, Vancouver and San Jose in regulation.
Securing two points against the Ducks was critical, and they pulled it off, even if it wasn’t always pretty on a night they looked somewhat lethargic after their road trip.
Stop the puck
Philipp Grubauer wasn’t tested all that often Tuesday but made saves when needed. One was on a breakaway to start the game after defenseman Justin Schultz fell in the neutral zone.
There was nothing Grubauer could do on highlight-reel goal by Trevor Zegras.
The final Max Comtois goal dinged Grubauer’s save percentage — dropping it from .954 to .909 for the night — but had zero impact on a game already over.
Stay special
It was a good night for special teams, as the penalty kill fended off three more power-play chances against, two of them with the game within reach.
And the power play salted things away in the third period with Eeli Tolvanen’s one-timer from the right circle off a Jared McCann pass to finish 1-for-2 for the night and help McCann become first player to reach 100 points with the franchise.