NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction: Kraken vs Predators (Thursday, October 12)

Kraken vs Predators Odds

We're off and running with another exciting season of NHL action, and the Seattle Kraken and Nashville Predators were two of six teams to take to the ice on Opening Night with both teams dropping heartbreaking decisions.

However, one team will walk away victorious as these two Western Conference foes with playoff aspirations take to the ice on Thursday night.

The betting market has the Predators out front by a razor-thin margin, leaving a substantive edge in backing the home side.

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The Kraken were up to their usual antics on Tuesday. Seattle is structured on playing a tidy defensive brand of hockey, using an opportunistic offense to stay competitive.

Last season, the Kraken ranked in the bottom half of the league in expected goals-for, posting the 11th-fewest scoring chances and eighth-fewest high-danger chances at five-on-five. However, those offensive shortcomings were offset by some of the best defensive metrics in the NHL.

By the end of the season, the Kraken had established themselves as a defensive force. Seattle held opponents to the fifth-fewest scoring and fourth-fewest high-danger chances. Consequently, they compiled the fifth-best expected goals-against rating while also ranking in the top half of most "actual" defensive categories.

Seattle's resilience and structure will be tested early in the 2023-24 campaign. The Kraken play seven of their first 10 games on the road against some of the league's best. However, too-early-to-tell metrics are not inspiring. Seattle gave up an astounding 30 scoring and 17 high-danger opportunities against the Knights.

Although they'll likely settle beneath that in most of their games this season, they'll be hard-pressed to match last year's stats early this year.

Nashville's season got off to a bumpy start after Tuesday's 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Still, the Predators' metrics were much better than the score implies.

Further, they should get a boost from Juuse Saros, who had a lackluster showing in the Sunshine State.

Although it's not reflected in the score, the Preds outplayed the Bolts on Tuesday night. Nashville out-chanced the Lightning in scoring and high-danger opportunities, resulting in a 51.1% expected goals-for rating.

Moreover, they out-possessed their hosts, posting a 51.6% Corsi rating. That reflects an inspired effort from the Preds as they played against an Eastern Conference juggernaut on the road.

Of course, Nashville was let down by Saros, who allowed four goals on 33 shots for an 87.9% save percentage and 4.19 goals against average. Nevertheless, that outing was uncharacteristic for Saros, who also gets a boost from playing at home on Thursday night.

Last season, Saros posted 30.0 goals saved above average with a 2.72 adjusted GAA. As expected, he did his best work at home, posting a 2.62 GAA and 91.8% save percentage while going 19-11-4. In short, Saros is poised for a bounce-back effort against the Kraken.

A few trends are worth keeping an eye on heading into this one. First, home teams are 7-2-0 to start the season. Likewise, betting favorites are 7-2 straight up on the moneyline.

The Kraken face a daunting task to open the season with cross-continental travel impacting their on-ice competitiveness. That will be challenged even further on Thursday night by an upstart Preds squad and netminder poised for a breakout performance.

Still, we're not looking past the Kraken's solid defensive structure as they try to limit Nashville's attack.

We're betting the Predators prevail in a low-scoring affair.

The Picks: Predators (-110 at DraftKings) | Kraken vs Predators Under 6.5 (-134 at FanDuel)