NHL new boys the Seattle Kraken (9-13-2) will look to keep up their recent improved form against the Pittsburgh Penguins (11-8-5) on Monday.
Bookmaker BetOnline has Seattle as the underdog for the clash with the odds for a home win at +119. The odds for a Penguins victory are at -131 and the goals total is at 5.5.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: December 5th, 7:00 P.M. (EST)
Seattle’s inaugural season got off to an awful start with the team leaking goals all over the place. They managed to win just four of their first 17 games but things have started to click for Dave Hakstol’s men of late. The Kraken take the ice on Monday having gone 5-1-1 in their past seven games.
The most recent win was a huge one against the Oilers Friday night. Seattle hosted one of the best teams in the league with a number of key players unavailable for the game, but they managed to sneak out a 4-3 victory.
It now looks like wingers Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Eberle will be back in the lineup on Monday with defenseman and captain Mark Giordano also available again after clearing COVID-19 protocols. It’s been a major improvement defensively from Seattle in recent weeks and the addition of Giordano should make them even more solid at the back.
The Penguins bring one of the best defensive records in the league with them, so this could turn out to be a very tight game that won’t feature a lot of scoring opportunities. Although, with Sidney Crosby on the ice, Pittsburgh is capable of exploding for goals any second.
Crosby missed the start of the season following wrist surgery and COVID-19 has also disrupted his campaign, but the Penguins captain has continued to perform at a very high level. He’s on a five-game point streak ahead of the matchup with the Kraken and the run includes a pair of three-point efforts.
Goaltender Tristan Jarry is also among Pittsburgh’s key guys. He had a disappointing season in 2020-21, but Jarry has done very little wrong this term. He’s among five goalies with at least five shutouts, sits third in the league with a 1.92 goals-against average and is fourth with a .934 save percentage.
Jarry has allowed over two goals just once in his last nine starts, and unlike many netminders, the 26-year-old seems to actually enjoy playing on the road. All of his three shutouts this season have come away from home and he’s put together a 6-2-2 road record with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.
