The Kraken play the Flames in Calgary on Thursday night to start their 2026-’27 season.
They beat the Flames twice in the preseason, which is meaningless, considering the first game was mostly played with Kraken skaters now in the American Hockey League, while the second game featured Calgary players now with the Wranglers in that same AHL.
The first game was a 4-2 win on September 20th; the next one a come-from-behind 4-3 shoot-out win four nights later. That was a Seattle squad made up of returning veterans.
More importantly, the Kraken have won their last two regular season games against the Flames and are 6-2-and-2 over their last ten head-to-head. That’s a slightly better indication, given the fact much of the line-ups are the same.
The Seattle PR folks came up with a couple of dandies in their notes for this one. Thank you to them for these:
Vince Dunn could become the first defenseman in NHL history to score his team’s first goal of the season in three consecutive campaigns.
On October 8th, 2024, Dunn scored 27-seconds into the 2nd period at home against the St. Louis Blues to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead in a game they’d go on to lose 3-2. Oddly enough, all five goals in the game were scored in the second period.
Last October 9th he scored at 2:21 of the 1st period in an eventual 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
This is the first time Seattle opens its season on the road since 2023.
The second tidbit; Matty Beniers is just four points away from 200 for his career. He has the second most points of any player taken in the 2021 NHL Draft. Wyatt Johnson of the Dallas Stars, taken 23rd-overall, has tallied 263 NHL points.
Let’s face it, some things never change. This opener will probably come down to special teams and goaltending. The Kraken power play needs to outscore or stay even with what the club potentially gives up on its penalty kill.
NOTES: Newly acquired Seattle forward Mackie Samoskevich will miss the opener and starts the season on injured reserve with an upper body ailment. He suffered the injury on September 24th against the Flames.
Expect to see Joey Daccord and Dustin Wolf starting in goal, respectively.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Promises Of Youth Movement Still A Tease For Now
