Montreal Canadiens vs. Seattle Kraken
How to watch
Start time: 7:30 PM EST / 4:30 PM PST
In Canada: Sportsnet (English)
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
In the Kraken region: ROOT-NW
With their first win in nearly three weeks under their belt, the Montreal Canadiens will look to continue riding the high as they host the Seattle Kraken on Monday night at the Bell Centre.
Montreal (16-21-3) finally got in the win column after a disastrous seven-game losing streak came to an end Saturday evening versus the visiting St. Louis Blues, edging them 5-4. Joel Armia, who had scored his first goal in 31 games the previous game, notched two more in the contest.
Forward Jonathan Drouin, who has been injury-plagued much of this season, and sat out a chunk of last season after revealing his struggles with mental health, looked as though he had scored his first goal since January 1, 2022. Following the game, the goal was credited to Josh Anderson, for his 11th of the season. It was his fourth, and team-leading, game-winner of the season. Drouin now sits at eight assists through 24 games.
The other two goals were scored by Kirby Dach, his first in 11 games, and Cole Caufield. Caufield’s goal was career goal number 50, and tied his total from last season (23), in 27 fewer games. Captain Nick Suzuki did pick up two helpers in the tilt, but still found a zero in the goal column, having not scored since netting the lone goal in their 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay way back on December 17, a span of nine games.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Kraken |
|---|---|---|
| 16-21-3 | Record | 22-12-4 |
| 44.19% (28th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 50.12% (19th) |
| 2.63 (29th) | Goals per game | 3.66 (3rd) |
| 3.80 (29th) | Goals against per game | 3.18 (18th) |
| 15.1% (32nd) | PP% | 21.6% (17th) |
| 73.6% (29th) | PK% | 68.9% (31st) |
| 1-0-0 | H2H Record | 0-1-0 |
The Seattle Kraken (22-12-4) have been enjoying quite a run in their sophomore season. After finishing in last place in the Pacific Division last season going 27-49-6, the rejuvenation seems to be working for the young team, as they’re currently sitting third in the division at this point of the season.
The team has also started the 2023 year perfect thus far, having won all four games, including the last three on the road. They doubled up on the Ottawa Senators in Kanata on Saturday evening by an 8-4 margin. Playing 38 games this season, it was already the third time they’ve scored eight or more in one game.
Five players had a multi-point effort for Seattle, including forward Matty Beniers, who leads all rookies with 14 goals and 30 points thus far. The first ever draft pick for Seattle, taken second overall in 2021, turned heads at the end of last season when he notched nine points in just 10 games. Andre Burakovsky, who helped lead the Colorado Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup in 21 years and signed a long-term deal with the Kraken in the off season, leads the team with 32 points, followed by former Edmonton Oiler Jordan Eberle at 31.
In goal for the Kraken, the undrafted Martin Jones is on pace for a career season, sitting at 18-5-3. However one of those losses came at the hands of Montreal back on December 6, when the Canadiens won 4-2 at Climate Pledge Arena. Two goals seven seconds apart by Caufield and Josh Anderson helped seal the victory. Defenceman Johnathan Kovacevic got his first career tally in the win, too. As did 2022 fourth-overall pick Shane Wright, who scored his one (and only) goal he’ll get this year as he has been assigned to the OHL following the World Juniors.
Are the Canadiens looking to play party poopers versus the Kraken and stop their four-game winning streak, and thus begin their own winning streak of their own? We’ll see if the Habs can get back-to-back wins … at the rink.
