Road Trip Couture: Kraken Take Their Hot Streak to Tampa

Seattle Kraken Tampa Bay Lightning

Listen. The Kraken did not fly to Florida to sip mocktails and pose by the pool. They flew to Florida to keep winning, and Tampa Bay is the next runway.

Seattle (5-2-0) visits the Lightning (4-2-0) today at 4:00 p.m. PT at Benchmark International Arena. Watch it free over the air on KONG (pregame from 3:30 p.m. PT), stream on Prime Video, and listen on KJR 93.3 FM. That’s the official how-to from the Kraken and KING 5 — no scavenger hunt required.

The Deep Sea is 3-0 on this road trip after late-night drama in Washington and a shootout win in Philly (Bobby McMann with the decider; Ville Ottavainen with his first NHL goal, per KING 5). Coach Lane Lambert’s message, via the club preview: stop sitting back with leads. The last two wins came after Seattle blew three leads and got outshot in third periods before clawing back. “We’ve got to continue to play on our toes,” Lambert said. Translation: keep dancing, don’t just hold the pose.

Goaltending has been the sequin jacket holding the outfit together — Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer combining for a sparkling trip save percentage, with the team sitting around a .915 SV% overall (tied for fifth league-wide as of the club’s write-up). The Kraken are pouring in 4.00 goals per game (third in the NHL); Tampa’s been stingier defensively (about 2.67 goals against) but quieter offensively. Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, and Jake Guentzel lead the Bolts’ attack; Andrei Vasilevskiy is still the big man in net, though his early numbers aren’t vintage Vasy.

Fun historical shade from the Kraken site: Seattle has never won a regulation game in this building — only overtime victories here. Tampa is 3-0-0 at home to start. Projected Kraken lines (not official) feature McCann–Beniers–Samoskevich up top, with Daccord listed in goal.

Four o’clock Pacific. Sunshine State. A first-place Pacific vibe and a Lightning team that still thinks it’s March. Dress accordingly. I’m talking teal, drama, and zero chill.