Kraken Gameday Preview: Traveling to Utah to Take on the Mammoth

On Friday, Dec. 12, the Seattle Kraken are preparing to take on the Utah Mammoth. This is a one-off road game for Seattle before they head back home again. The Kraken just closed out a three-game homestand, and in the final game, they hosted the Los Angeles Kings and finally snapped a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 overtime victory. With Seattle finally back in the win column, they will try and keep this momentum rolling.

This game closes out a three-game homestand for the Mammoth. They lost the first two games and are currently on a three-game losing streak. They’ll look to course correct tonight before they hit the road.

Kraken Storylines

Ahead of the game, the Kraken announced Jared McCann will be out for the next three weeks with a lower-body injury. He fell to the ice hard in the final minutes of the game against the Kings. He managed to get off the ice on his own, but he had to be helped down the tunnel. Hopefully, he recovers soon so he can be back on the ice.

Tye Kartye missed the Kraken’s last game due to illness. He was not a participant in today’s practice, which seems like a good indicator he will miss this game in Utah as well.

With McCann and Kartye’s absences, the Kraken are now rolling with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Josh Mahura will slot in as the seventh defenseman. He has played 15 games with the Kraken this season, including the two where Jamie Oleksiak was a healthy scratch.

The player to watch in this game is Mason Marchment, who has been elevated to the first line alongside Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle in McCann’s absence. He has played 26 games this season and has recorded 11 points. It has been six games since he last recorded a point, and with new line partners, tonight seems to be the perfect game to break that streak.

Team Stats

Seattle Kraken
Season Record: 12-10-6

Top Scorers:

1. Jordan Eberle – 9 goals (G), 9 assists (A), 18 points (P)
2. Vince Dunn – 5 G, 12 A, 17 P
3. Matty Beniers – 4 G, 13 A, 17 P
4. Jaden Schwartz – 8 G, 7 A, 15 P
5. Brandon Montour – 6 G, 9 A, 15 P

Goalie Stats:

1. Joey Daccord – 8-7-4, 2.94 goals-against average (GAA), .893 save percentage (SV%)
2. Philipp Grubauer – 4-1-1, 2.54 GAA, .900 SV%
3. Matt Murray – 0-2-1, 2.21 GAA, .922 SV%

Utah Mammoth
Season Record: 14-15-3

Top Scorers:

1. Clayton Keller – 10 G, 18 A, 28 P
2. Nick Schmaltz – 11 G, 15 A, 26 P
3. Dylan Guenther – 13 G, 12 A, 25 P
4. Logan Cooley – 14 G, 9 A, 23 P
5. JJ Peterka – 12 G, 11 A, 23 P

Goalie Stats:

1. Karel Vejmelka – 12-9-2, 2.72 GAA, .895 SV%
2. Vitek Vanecek – 2-6-1, 2.87 GAA, .878 SV%

Projected Lineups

(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.

Seattle Kraken

Mason Marchment — Matty Beniers — Jordan Eberle
Jani Nyman — Chandler Stephenson — Eeli Tolvanen
Ben Meyers — Shane Wright — Kaapo Kakko
Frederick Gaudreau — Ryan Winterton

Vince Dunn — Adam Larsson
Ryan Lindgren — Brandon Montour
Ryker Evans — Jamie Oleksiak
Josh Mahura

Joey Daccord
Philipp Grubauer

Scratched: Cale Fleury, Tye Kartye

Injured: Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz, Matt Murray, Berkly Catton, Max McCormick

Utah Mammoth

Clayton Keller — Nick Schmaltz — JJ Peterka
Lawson Crouse — Barrett Hayton — Dylan Guenther
Michael Carcone — Jack McBain — Daniil But
Liam O’Brien — Kevin Stenlund — Kailer Yamamoto

Mikhail Sergachev — John Marino
Nate Schmidt — Sean Durzi
Ian Cole — Olli Maatta

Karel Vejmelka
Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Brandon Tanev, Nick DeSimone, Kevin Rooney

Injured: Logan Cooley, Alex Kerfoot, Juuso Valimaki, Terrell Goldsmith, Anson Thornton

Next Up for the Kraken

The Kraken will head back home and host the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, Dec. 14.