A:

The opposition scored the first goal in each of the first five games of the still nascent inaugural season. The Kraken led after a first period, holding a 2-1 advantage in the Oct. 14 win at Nashville. It’s a fact that hockey teams that score the first goal tend to be a bit more aggressive on both sides of the ice and theoretically (with enough empirical evidence to make it a reasonable guess) the leading players have less. fear of making a mistake. .

Captain Marc Giordano said after Tuesday’s game that the Kraken skaters maybe care too much in some respects, which caused them not to want to be the guy whose actions lead to a second goal.

Easy to say, but scoring on the first Saturday and making it a regular habit during the four home games can turn October. What to watch: Players challenge Canucks players in puck battles.

Of them:

With two days of productive practices and a welcome return to the fore Jarnkrok Street, coach Dave Hakstol and his coaching staff felt comfortable changing lines and defensive pairings. Yanni Gourde (second match Saturday) will focus Jaden schwartz and Jarnkrok (first game) and they looked good in Friday practice. Alex wennberg now Jared mccann on his left wing and Jordan eberle right (McCann and Eberle worked together four games as center and winger).

Morgan geek was back in a white full-contact jersey on Friday after a day of non-contact red after going through a tight check in Jersey. He will work with Joonas Donskoy and Brandon tanev (back on the left wing). It’s three lines that will look to combine good changes and early pressure with what will be Seattle-worthy noise and support from the home opener crowd.

Three:

Hakstol said the two days of training were a necessary opportunity to “clean up” the Kraken’s “transition game from defense to offense and offense to defense.” This usually starts with defenders carrying or passing the puck out of the defensive end (the latter connecting to a striker / teammate who then moves the puck to the offensive zone. The Hakstol pairs and assistant Jay Leach (who oversees the D-men and penalty) also seem different: Jamie Oleksiak and Giordano; Vince dunn and Carson Soucy; and Adam larsson and Jeremy Lauzon. Fans can check how successful these defenders are in moving the puck out of the defensive wing with puck possession in the neutral zone (between the blue lines).