NHL: Vegas Golden Knights vs Seattle Kraken Betting Line Preview
Knights battle for third spot in the Pacific; Kraken on the outside of the postseason
The Vegas Golden Knights (34-23-7, 75 points) start a two-game road trip with a stop in the Northwest against the Seattle Kraken (28-24-11, 67 points) at the Climate Pledge Arena. Vegas is tied with the Los Angeles Kings (75 points) for third place while simultaneously holding onto the last wild card spot in the NHL playoff standings.
The Kings are technically ahead because they’ve played one less game but the Knights have two more regulation wins, which is the first tie-breaker. Seattle has some work done to being eight points behind VGK and the Colorado Avalanche to get in the postseason as a wild card or an at-large team.
NHL lines today have made Vegas a -135 favorite with a total of 6 (under -120). Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT and can be seen on SCRIPPS and ROOT Sports Northwest. Let’s take a deeper look at the Knights and Kraken betting line to make ourselves a winner.
Vegas Golden Knights vs Seattle Kraken 
Day/Time:
Location: Climate Pledge Arena. Vegas
Streaming: SCRIPPS/ROOT Sports
Vegas, McCrimmon Has Nothing To Apologize For
As we sat in T-Mobile Arena watching Noah Hanifin get his first point against the Detroit Red Wings, the thought came that this is why the love affair with the team and the city remains strong.
At the deadline, GM Kelly McCrimmon reached into his back of tricks and pulled out Hanifin from the Calgary Hurricanes, Anthony Mantha from Washington, and Tomas Hertl from the San Jose Sharks. These moves were made possible after placing Mark Stone ($9.5 million), Robin Lehner ($5 million), and William Carrier ($1.4 million) on LTIR, which allowed the team to use just under $16 million before the deadline to acquire three massive assets.
All moves are 100% legal under the current CBA. The problem is, that most teams don’t have the luxury of being able to sit $16 million of their payroll and still be successful and neither do the Knights.
Lehner and Carrier have been a non-factor all season, but the rest of the league is crying foul with Mark Stone freeing up a massive amount of space because Stone is eligible to come back in the postseason where there is no salary cap.
The reality is, Stone has a lacerated spleen and McCrimmon is the sharpest GM in the game alongside President George McPhee, who has a law degree which surely comes in handy when trying to understand what teams can do when it comes to the CBA.
The reality is that there are teams (New Jersey, Washington) who have more than $10 million in salary sitting in LTIR but failed to do what the Knights did, and that’s put themselves in the best position to defend their Stanley Cup and isn’t that why we’re all here.
Kraken Know Defense Is Key To Postseason
The smells like the Florida Panthers of a year ago when they were on the outside of the postseason and then decided to play a physical brand of defense that wore teams down all the way to the Stanley Cup.
The Kraken have been on a similar path, although they have some work to do before they find their way into the playoffs. Ironically, it was a 4-0 shutout of the Florida Panthers that has sent them on a run of just 2.25 goals allowed over their last 34 games.
Only the Florida Panthers (2.21), Winnipeg Jets (2.24), and Carolina Hurricanes (2.25) have been better in that span, all teams that will make the postseason. The move to low-scoring hockey makes sense because the Kraken doesn’t have the depth scoring necessary to keep up with the better Western Conference opponents with just one 20-goal scorer (Jared McCann).
It’s always interesting when fans of other teams point to the Golden Knights as having a massive expansion advantage but the Kraken were allowed the same “luxury” with a blueprint to success laid before them by the Knights and they’ve struggled to be as relevant.
The Knights Swing A Heavy Sword In Seattle
After the deadline, the first thing that popped into our mind was to go against Vegas at home against the Vancouver Canucks. It happens every time a team makes moves that change the makeup of who they currently are because it takes a few games for the remaining faces to get used to their role.
The bigger the names, the more time it will take for a new culture to emerge. We think Vegas will continue to get stronger because they’re simply better and the confidence level has to be through the roof. Seattle may be in defensive mode but that goes out the window if they get down by a couple of goals.
Our official NHL pick for Tuesday is for this game to go over the total of six while giving us bankroll-friendly even money. That does it for our Knights vs Kraken betting line preview, we wish you all the best with your NHL wagers tonight.
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