High-Scoring Winger Schwartz Won't Return Until New Year
Saturday night's game at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa will match two teams desperate for a victory.
The Seattle Kraken have a regulation loss and a shootout loss so far on a four game road trip, and just one win in their last five.
The team will have to carry on without star winger Jaden Schwartz, who received bad news about an injury suffered Tuesday in Chicago.
Schwartz's absence will be keenly felt by a Kraken team averaging 2.79 goals per game, 26th in the NHL. The 13-season NHL pro leads Seattle with five power play goals, though he's been held to one assist over his past eight games.
Two passengers received tickets aboard the shuttle between the Kraken and Coachella Valley Firebirds. Andrew Poturalski, who averaged seven minutes TOI for Seattle in games against the Blackhawks and Maple Leafs without a point or shot on goal, has been returned to the Firebirds.
Max McCormickUp from the AHL to face the Senators is Max McCormick, who was orginally drafted by Ottawa in the 6th round in 2011. He played 10 games for the Kraken in 2021-22.
So far this year in Coachella Valley, the Wausau, WI native has eight goals and 17 points in 16 games. He scored 28 goals with the Firebirds last season.
The Kraken got to Ottawa before the Senators did, and the home team also arrived in a surly mood. They were beaten 4-2 Friday by the Columbus Blue Jackets, in a battle of teams currently occupying the bottom spot in their respective divisions.
Ottawa's loss created a statistical oddity: both they and the Kraken have the same number of victories (8) and the same number of regulation losses (10). The Senators, however, have not suffered an overtime or shootout defeat. Seattle has six OT or shootout losses, tied with the N.Y. Islanders for most in the NHL.
