Game Preview: Seattle Welcomes Columbus For First Time As Blue Jackets Begin A Season-Long Five-Game Road Trip

SEATTLE KRAKEN

9–15–2 (20 points; .385%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE

10:00 P.M. – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA SEATTLE, WA

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On the heels of their first overtime loss of the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets kick off their longest road-trip of the season Saturday night when they face the Seattle Kraken for the second and final time of the season.

The trip to Climate Pledge Arena is the first of five straight away from home for the Blue Jackets. It's an unusual road trip that will see Columbus travel to Seattle and Vancouver for to face two struggling teams, then Edmonton and Calgary for a pair of tall, tough tasks in Canada. The Blue Jackets will make their second trip of the season to Buffalo for the fifth and final game of the otherwise pacific northwest road trip.

After a strong start to the season that gave the Blue Jackets a 12-6-0 record, they've went 1-5-1 in the last seven games. Both the win and the overtime loss came at Nationwide Arena; the five regulation losses were on the road. Not a great sign for a team that won't see home ice again for nearly two weeks.

KNOW THE FOE

As the Blue Jackets begin a road trip, the Kraken find themselves wrapping up a homestand. Saturday will be the final game of a four-game homestand for Seattle that started strong — a regulation win over the Stanley Cup-minded Edmonton Oilers. In their last two games, however, they've been outscored a combined by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets by a combined score of 9-1. 

Despite the struggle to score in the last two games, Seattle's offense has proven they can put the puck in the net. The Kraken scored 18 goals in their four previous games, including four in a 4-1 win in Florida against the Panthers. For the season, they rank 19th in the league in goals per game at 2.81. 

Goaltending have been what's held Seattle to a 9-15-2 record. Philipp Grubauer has started in 20 of 26 games for Seattle, and has just five quality starts to show for it. Amongst the 25 predominant starters (15+ starts this season) in the NHL, Grubauer's .887 save percentage and 3.16 goals against average both rank last. The difference between his goals against average and expected goals against average (2.25) is a difference of -0.91 goals, the largest gap of those 25 starters by a wide margin. San Jose Sharks starter Adin Hill is the next closest, with a difference of -0.26. Chris Driedger, the Kraken's number two goalie, has an .876 save percentage and 3.60 goals against — both markedly worse than Grubauer, though in just four starts. While there is certainly a difference between shot and shot quality, it's worth noting that all of the aforementioned struggles in the net come despite Seattle allowing just 28.2 shots per game, second fewest in the NHL. 

STORYLINES

• START IT RIGHT
  Seattle and Vancouver are should-win games for the Blue Jackets if they want to stay in contention for a playoff spot. Winning one is a must, winning both is preferred. Columbus can get off to the right start with a win in their first trip to the Emerald City. That'll help set the tone for the trip, and with games against the thus far-dominant Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames on the horizon, they'll need a very specific tone.
   
• REPEAT DEFENSE
  They lost in a "stupid" shootout according to Zach Werenski, but the Blue Jackets blue line was sharp Thursday against the Anaheim Ducks. Their five giveaways were the fewest they've had since Thanksgiving, and allowing just one goal over 65 minutes of hockey is a disappearing art. If Columbus can give a repeat performance Saturday, they'll pick up two points.
   
• 50-7-42
  The line of Eric Robinson, Sean Kuraly, and Alexandre Texier was dynamite Thursday. The trio combined for the only three points for Columbus of the game (Texier the goal, Robinson and Kuraly the assists), but nearly buried it at least two other times in the game. All three players are motivated to silence their critics, and their 207 minutes of ice time together ranks 5th in the league amongst groups-of-three forwards. 

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