Kraken vs Golden Knights | NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction

Kraken vs. Golden Knights Odds

The Seattle Kraken head to Sin City fresh off a win to take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. The Kraken are red-hot heading into their first playoff appearance in franchise history, winning five in a row.

While Vegas has been fairly hot, going 6-1-3 in its last 10 games, it’s coming in limping with several injuries. The Golden Knights are also fresh off a shootout loss against the Stars on Saturday.

Here’s a look at the odds, as well as my prediction for the Seattle Kraken vs. Vegas Golden Knights.

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Seattle Kraken

Seattle has received a ton of quality production from its depth. Jared McCann is having an amazing season with 40 goals, and Vince Dunn has been a critical part of the blue line. Jordan Eberle has provided exceptional leadership, while Matty Beniers is the clear favorite for the Calder Trophy.

Over the past six games, the Kraken have been one of the better teams at driving play. They’re 10th in expected goals with a 56.06 xGF% and their power play has improved drastically from where they were before.

Seattle’s been incredible on the defensive end as of late. Its penalty kill was extremely poor for most of the season, but raised up four percentage points over the past two months. The Kraken are also third with a 1.94 xGA/60.

With Philipp Grubauer playing Monday night, I expect Martin Jones to start. Jones’ numbers are far from optimal, but he gets the wins. He’s currently playing to a -6.9 goals saved above expected (GSAx) and an .887 SV%.

Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas is coming into this game very shorthanded. Jack Eichel, Shea Theodore, and Zach Whitecloud will all be out, leaving it up to their usual suspects in Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, Alex Pietrangelo and Chandler Stephenson.

Vegas has done very well at generating a substantial even strength attack. Over the past week, the Knights are ninth in expected goals with a 57.19 xGF%. However, their power play is pretty average, scoring 20.3% of the time; and not having Eichel and Theodore will make a mediocre power play worse.

Even though they’re missing two of their top defensemen (Zach Whitecloud is also injured), they’re doing great at 5-on-5 defense. They have a 2.04 xGA/60, but need to be better on the PK at 76.7%.

Goaltending has been such a toss-up for the Knights. Logan Thompson is still out, as is Adin Hill. It’s either Jonathan Quick or Laurent Brossoit. Quick has struggled since his first five starts with a .901 SV% with his new team, and Brossoit has provided some stability since coming off injury with a .921 SV%. Hard to say who takes the net, my guess would be Brossoit.

Kraken vs. Golden Knights Pick

It’s hard to find a team hotter than the Kraken right now. Sure, they’re on the second half of a back-to-back, but that hasn’t stopped them during this stretch. I’ve been so impressed with Seattle’s turnaround from last season. It’s one of the deeper teams in the league having six 20+ goal scorers, whereas last year, it only had three.

Vegas is an incredibly deep team as well, but the injuries have hurt its value on the market. The Knights currently are a semi-heavy favorite, but I can see that being due to their exceptional home record of 24-15-1. I think they’re more likely to lose this one not only because of their injuries, but statistically they’ve trended downward. Once playoffs start, I don’t foresee them being at a disadvantage, but for now, it’s a different story.

Seattle is also great on the road. It managed to pull out an astounding 26-10-4 record. I usually like to do 3-way betting on games, but the Knights have gone into overtime in three of their last four, so you can never be so sure. With all those factors in mind, I’m backing Seattle moneyline.

Pick: Kraken +125

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