What's Kraken: Kraken offense averaging 4 goals per game

He comes in with some speed. And the Kraken win it in a shootout. And that was the game winner. The Kraken had their first three-game winning streak of the season. They win their third straight on the road, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in a shootout last night. Seattle off to a hot 5-2 start and 3-0 to start this road trip with two games to play in Florida. Joining us now is Kraken Hockey Network analyst Brett Festerling. Brett, good morning. Good morning. Good to have you here. All right, so the Kraken starting strong on the East Coast road trip wins against Detroit, Washington, and Philly. We've seen a number of goal scores. Freddy Gaudreau, though, with three goals in two games, six different scores overall in the first couple of games. So break it down for us. How are the Kraken finding their groove here and doing it on the road? Well, they're coming together. You're seeing chemistry in all four lines. And I think if you look at the additions of Šattonkovič, and you look at bringing Bobby McMann back. They've slotted into those top two lines nicely. And then you're seeing chemistry in the young guys like Catton and Wright. To put Kakko with him now, you mentioned Gaudreau, he's leading goal scorer. Probably not expected to be, but you're seeing production and contributions from that fourth line where every line's found an identity. And they found that chemistry. So instead of trying to find those combinations, they found those and now that's building. Okay, well, that's really encouraging to hear. Now, how is the team able to bounce back after, I mean, they just got clobbered by Vegas before they headed out on the road. Did that kind of light a fire under them, do you think? Yeah, perhaps, I mean, Vegas is the Western Conference champions. They did go to the Stanley Cup, so they're a good team, one Really good. And it's an 82 game schedule, you're gonna have those type of games. That's obviously not what the Kraken wanted on home ice. But I think, yeah, that motivates you to have a good start on this road trip. They started with Detroit, who was struggling. So to get a win there, carried over to Washington. This is a very good team. And then tough game in Philly last night. They get the points. So 3-0 to start a five-game road trip is huge for Seattle. Now, Seattle doesn't have a true scoring line, right? I mean, we don't have like that A1 line that you're going to put out there. And they're going to produce, you know, 40 goals apiece for you. we have guys that are up and down the lineup that are scoring a lot of goals as you just pointed out is that is that a benefit in some ways yeah i think so i think it's it's a huge benefit i think in this league now it's so fast and so skilled that one line teams they run out of gas when it comes to playoffs 84 games and then you got to win 16 playoffs you've seen teams like edmonton not be able to get over that hump with those a top tier guys so i think team like carolina that won the cup last year, has that depth, gets contributions up and down that lineup, and that's more similar to what a Seattle looks like. Well, another encouraging sign, the Kraken's power play converting at a 23% clip. That's 13th best in the league. So what's gelling for the power play right now? Just good movement and good kind of puck possession. I think having Lane back and a lot of the coaching staff, including a lot of the same players together in those units, is building that chemistry we're talking about and just building on it. And then you're seeing, again, young guys like Cadden and Wright come up where they're adding to that second line, adding secondary scoring. And you were telling me before we jumped on the air that you really like what you're seeing out of Berkeley Cadden right now. Yeah, I love it. I think it's very encouraging to see the step he made since last year. I think you saw the skill last year. This year you're seeing the confidence on top of that skill. And for the staff or for fans, the step he's taking is very encouraging. And if he can continue to make those steps, I think he can be a star in this league. Oh, I hope so. And we need a superstar. Our penalty kill, though, has been less effective. What's the key for the Kraken to shore up the PK? Well, it's a work in progress, and Lane will admit that. Last year, you finished second last. So there's gains to be made there. So Seattle just squeaked out of playoffs last year. that's somewhere where you can make big jumps and improvements that I think will get you over that hump so the big thing is just commitment it's blocking shots it's hard little details that aren't easy easy things to do on at 84 games jumping in front of pucks yeah or taking hits to make plays it's hard so they're getting better and that's a focus for this team okay let's take a look at the schedule ahead they have two more games on this road trip and then they visit Tampa and Florida and then they head back home for four games they take on Detroit Utah Minnesota and Toronto what what games are you most excited about this upcoming homestand I think there's a lot of exciting games our Utah has a lot of skill and young players they're exciting team to watch Minnesota obviously has Stanley Cup aspirations Quinn Hughes is one of if not the best defenseman in the league he's very exciting to watch and Toronto's got some firepower they got the first overall pick last year in Gavin McKenna, Austin Matthews, William Nylander, there's some exciting players to watch here. So Seattle have a hard test, but definitely good hockey game. Okay, so you have two original six teams, Wings and the Leafs coming into town, and hockey is just so ingrained in the culture in those towns. Can you talk a little bit about the mystique of the original six franchises with Detroit and Toronto coming in? Because You know there's going to be tons of Leaf and Wings fans there. Yeah, they travel well. It's surprising even when I played how many fans from those teams showed up for warm-up. It's just history and tradition, right? They have 100 years or whatever it is of seasons and winning and Stanley Cups and storylines and heroes and foes and all of it, rivalries. So I think you just, over those decades, especially when there was less social media and that kind of thing to see all these teams, that's what people watched. So when you're a kid, for me, we were talking, I watched Detroit. Yeah. They were winning. I loved watching them. I had an uncle that was all about the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he would send, you know, Toronto sweaters up as their birthday gifts. So it's very ingrained in those cultures and in those cities. So Brett Festerling is with the Kraken Hockey Network. Thank you so much for joining us and talking some puck with us. Yeah, I appreciate you having me on. Let's go Kraken.