Take Coyotes To Tame Kraken On Tuesday Night

Kraken vs. Coyotes, 9:00 ET

Outkick asked me last year to see if I could handicap hockey. Of all the sports in the world, hockey is the biggest that I knew the least about. I mean, I can drive a car but don't follow NASCAR. I can't ice skate to save my life. Hell, I can't even rollerblade or rollerskate. That led me to kind of ignore hockey with the exception of playoff hockey. Since they came to me, I've seen a lot of success in hockey and have a winning record this year - its not crazy, but it is a winning record. Tonight, I have a play in the game between the Kraken and Coyotes.

Last year, one of the best teams in the game was the Seattle Kraken. They were able to sneak into the playoffs and took the Dallas Stars to seven games before falling. This season has not been quite as exciting for them as they only have four wins on the season. Their record sits at 4-6-2 but they have won two of their past three contests. They are playing in a lot of tight contests this year as they have three overtime games and one shootout already. The problem is that they aren't really doing anything well to this point in the season. They are only averaging 2.58 goals per game on offense, and they are allowing 3.42 goals to opponents. I suppose their record is pretty positive for having those type of numbers for their offense and defense. The Kraken are expected to have Philipp Grubauer mind the net tonight, but that's not a good thing as he is statistically one of the worst goalies in the league so far this year. Grubauer has allowed at least three goals in five of his seven starts this season. The Kraken have lost five of those games.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - AUGUST 21: The Team Store for the Seattle Kraken, the NHL's newest franchise, opens for business on August 21, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jim Bennett/Getty Images)

The difference a year can make. I already told you about the success the Kraken had last season, but the Coyotes were a disaster. They only ended up with 70 points last season. That was the fourth fewest in the entire league last year. Arizona this year, though, is off to a much stronger start with 11 points and a 5-5-1 record. The Coyotes have a fairly even ratio of shots per game and shots defended per game when compared to the Kraken, but they've seen more success. The Coyotes are averaging more then three goals scored per game and allow slightly less than three a game. Tonight, they will have Connor Ingram in the net. Ingram has been middle-of-the-pack when it comes to goalie stats this season with a 3-1-0 record and a 2.39 goals against-per-game average. He's been awesome in four of his five starts. He has allowed two or fewer goals in four of his starts. The one poor start was against the Kings and he was pulled rather quickly.

These teams are a lot more evenly matched than I would've thought. In a game like tonight's, I think the better approach is to take the hotter goalie, and that is Ingram. While Grubauer is the starter, and Ingram is the backup, Grubauer hasn't played well this season. I'm going to take the Coyotes at home in this one to win the game. Back them at -110.

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