It seems strange that barely more than a month into the NHL campaign, Pacific Division rivals Calgary and Seattle will be wrapping up their four-game season series Wednesday in Seattle.
The Kraken opened the season with a 6-1 victory Oct. 1 in Calgary, then beat the Flames by the same score Oct. 4 in Seattle. The teams met a third time Oct. 30 in Calgary, with the Flames coming away with a 6-2 win as Matt Coronato recorded a career-high four points (one goal, three assists).
After dropping their first five games, the Flames have gone 7-3-0.
“They really stepped up lately,” said Kraken forward Frederick Gaudreau, who has a team-high seven goals. “Honestly, there are those games to start the season. Sometimes it happens. Teams are trying to find their identity or whatnot or trying to get connected together, but we weren’t thinking that they were not going to be good.”
The Flames won 2-1 Monday at San Jose as Adam Klapka had a goal and an assist and fellow fourth-liner William Stromgren scored his first NHL goal, which proved to be the game-winner.
“You’re always happy for a young guy when he gets his first one. I thought that line was arguably our best one,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “Any road win is a big win. Finding a way to limit their opportunities until later in the game was important to us.”
Dustin Wolf made 26 saves for the Flames, earning his third win in his past four starts after opening the season 0-3, including two blowout losses to the Kraken.
“Everybody goes through their ups-and-downs throughout the course of the season, he happened to hit his early,” Huska said of Wolf. “He spent a lot of time finding himself and getting back to the level where I think he’d probably say he’s pretty comfortable again.”
While the Flames will be playing their third game in five days, the Kraken, who are 8-5-1 and off to the best start in franchise history, haven’t played since last Friday’s loss in Calgary, when goaltender Philipp Grubauer was pulled after allowing four goals.
“I would say probably the worst 40 minutes I’ve been a part of since I got here,” second-year Kraken coach Lane Lambert said of the final two periods. “Losing battles, turning pucks over, mistakes on the wall, allowing power-play goals. List goes on and on.”
Mackie Samoskevich had a goal and an assist for the Kraken.
Forward Matthew Wood is expected to make his Kraken debut after being acquired Sunday from Nashville in exchange for forward Shane Wright, another former first-round pick.
Wood had 17 goals and 30 points as a rookie for the Predators last season.
“There’s still room to add more strength to his body and to his frame,” Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said of the 6-foot-4, 202-pound Wood. “But I think he utilizes his reach very well to protect pucks. And more importantly, to get a shot off.
“And we think his hockey sense and his shot are two of the best attributes that he can bring to our team.”
Wood is expected to play right wing as Jared McCann, the Kraken’s career scoring leader, is out for up to 10 weeks with a lower-body injury.
