The red-hot Florida Panthers will continue their five-game road trip on Tuesday night when they visit the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. The puck is scheduled to drop at 10 PM EST. Florida is winners of three straight and has one of the best records in the league, most recently hammering the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Sunday night. Seattle meanwhile is struggling and has lost eight in a row. Needless to say, they really need a win. Perhaps it will come against a superior opponent. Continue reading for the Panthers vs Kraken picks.
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The Panthers are a clear favorite here with -168 moneyline odds while the Kraken come back at +150. The total is set at 6.5 goals. Florida has won two of the last three meetings, but Seattle holds the edge overall, going 3-2 against the Panthers.
The Panthers did the unthinkable by making an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Finals, even eliminating the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in the first round. While some could say Florida’s playoff brilliance was simply a team getting hot at the right time, it’s clear this is just a very good group of players. The Panthers are second in the Atlantic Division right now with a 17-8-2 record and have gone 6-3-1 in their last 10 outings.
Florida isn’t exactly scoring a boatload of goals, ranking just 17th with 3.15 per game. However, they’re extremely solid defensively, allowing only 2.52 goals per night. That’s a major reason this team is knocking on the doorstep of first place in the division. Sam Reinhart is enjoying a ridiculously efficient season, scoring 17 goals and tallying 20 assists to lead the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov meanwhile has 10 goals and 18 assists. Surprisingly, Matthew Tkachuk has yet to really get going with only five goals and 15 assists, but once he starts to find his best, it will be huge for Florida.
Sunday’s game against the Blue Jackets ended up being a close one until the third period rolled around. The Panthers had a 2-1 lead at that point before scoring three in the final period. Tkachuk had one of them. Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Eetu Luostarinen, and Gustav Forsling also got on the scoresheet. Prior to that, Florida beat the Dallas Stars and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Kraken shocked everyone last season in the playoffs with their run, nearly beating the Stars in the West Finals. But, they’ve unfortunately struggled to replicate that same success the first couple of months into 2023-24. Seattle is in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a poor 8-14-7 record and as previously mentioned, hasn’t collected a victory in eight games. An absolutely brutal skid for this squad.
Seattle’s biggest issue? Well, everything. They’re bottom of the NHL in both goals scored and most goals conceded, showing no consistency on either end of the ice. Former Canuck Jared McCann is their only double-digit scorer with 13, but he’s also got just five assists. Aside from a couple of guys with eight goals apiece, it tails off dramatically after that. The Kraken are also dead last in shooting percentage, which sheds light on their lack of aggressiveness in front of goal.
Sunday saw Seattle get blanked 3-0 by the Minnesota Wild despite only getting outshot 26-24. Joey Daccord allowed two goals on 25 shots, with Minnny’s last goal being an empty netter. The Kraken’s next three games are at home so just maybe they can finally get back on track before it’s too late. If the playoffs are going to be a reality, Seattle would need to turn things around in a hurry.
It’s only a matter of time until Seattle ends the losing streak, but it won’t be Tuesday. I like how the Panthers are playing right now and I do believe they will grab another win. Take the moneyline.
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