Derek Lee and Patrick Present discuss the early success of the Ducks' penalty kill The Anaheim Ducks (8-9-3) will hit the road for the second game of a home-and-home series against the Seattle Kraken [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/seattle-kraken/] (11-10-1) on Wednesday night in Seattle. RECAP Seattle defeated the Ducks 3-2 on Monday in Anaheim, a game full of players from both rosters getting back on track. Takeaways from the Ducks' 3-2 Loss to the Kraken [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/game-day/takeaways-from-the-ducks-3-2-loss-to-the-kraken] On the Ducks side, Frank Vatrano scored just his third goal of the season after netting 37 in 2023-24, and Troy Terry tallied two assists after only managing two points in his last seven games. Trevor Zegras' production finally seems to be catching up to his play early in the season. He has five points in his last five games. For Seattle, Shane Wright opened the scoring with just his second goal and third point of the season after he was scratched for the team's previous three games. Andre Burakovsky scored Seattle's second goal of the game, his first of the year through 22 games. Leo Carlsson was on the receiving end of a sizable hit from Seattle forward Tye Kartye in the second period, forcing him to exit the game with a listed upper-body injury. Carlsson didn't practice with the team on Tuesday. Mason McTavish replaced him on the depth chart as the team's listed first-line center between Trevor Zegras and Alex Killorn. Carlsson's injury forced some adjustments, but Ducks head coach Greg Cronin matched up the Ducks' listed second line of Vatrano-Strome-Terry against Seattle's listed first line of McCann-Beniers-Burakovsky. It will be worth monitoring if Seattle head coach Dan Bylsma returns to that matchup as Beniers won the shot attempt battle against Strome 10-9 and held the expected goals share [https://www.naturalstattrick.com/game.php?season=20242025&game=20343] with 72.55%. SCOUTING REPORT Information won't be released until morning skate (if at all), but one has to assume both teams will turn to their backup goaltenders from Monday night's game, John Gibson and Philipp Grubauer. Gibson has a 2-4-0 record in his career against Seattle with a .865 SV%. Grubauer has a 9-6-1 record against the Ducks with a .903 SV%. KRAKEN DEFENDING Seattle deploys a traditional box-plus-one zone defensive zone coverage scheme. They prioritize protecting the inner slot area with rangy blueliners like Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson. They don't allow many shots to get through to their netminder and swallow rebound chances by outnumbering opponents in tight. They elect to eliminate passing lanes with active sticks and block perimeter shots. The Kraken aren't the heaviest of forechecking teams, but their forwards are all burners, pressuring opposing puck retrievers and hounding opponents on the backcheck. There aren't many (if any) defensive weak links on their roster. KRAKEN ATTACK Seattle prioritizes disrupting opposing pressure and counter-attacking with ample speed in transition. Their forwards are consistently quick to support and build breakouts from anywhere in the defensive or neutral zones. When they see an opportunity, fleet of foot defensemen like Brandon Montour, Josh Mahura, and Ryker Evans will join a rush without hesitation. On the cycle, Seattle implores player movement around the perimeter against man coverage to cause confusion or hesitation so they can open shooting and passing lanes. They aren't a team to send too much traffic to the net front, but they consistently win pucks back following shots to sustain zone time. KRAKEN SPECIAL TEAMS Seattle went 0-3 on the power play on Monday. They didn't run a common 1-3-1 formation with a man advantage, instead electing for a traditional umbrella from the late 00's with two players near the bottom of the circles. Like with most any power play structure, there is a fair amount of flow and shifting, but one assumes their goal is to outnumber penalty killers around the goal line and crease areas. The Ducks will look to change their fortunes on Wednesday as they've now lost eight straight games against the Kraken. Ducks Prospect Named to U20 World Championships Roster [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/ducks-prospect-named-to-u20-world-championships-roster] Ducks Prospects Projected to Make 2025 World Junior Championship Rosters [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks/latest-news/ducks-prospects-projected-to-make-2025-world-junior-championship-rosters]
