Blackhawks head west, hoping to build upon newfound momentum under King
One week into his NHL coaching career and Derek King remains undefeated.
Three wins. No losses.
Now comes the hard part - sustaining and building upon that success during the Blackhawks' upcoming four-game road trip that begins in Seattle on Wednesday.
Some may look at the expansion Kraken, which is 4-10-1 and ranks 31st in goals-against average at 3.67 and think, "No problem. Easy pickings."
The Hawks (4-9-2) should not be one of those teams. And they know it.
"We're in no position to look at any team and think, 'Oh, we're gonna go in and have a point night because they're an expansion team,' " King said. "Every game's a hard game for us, and we need to keep building on what we've started."
Said Alex DeBrincat, who leads the way with 8 goals: "We've got to realize what we just went through that past month. It's not gonna come easy for us."
Seattle's roster is dotted with capable players, including forwards Jordan Eberle (8 goals), Jaden Schwartz (3G, 8A) and Yanni Gourde (3G, 4A), and D-men Mark Giordano, Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak.
The big issue for the Kraken has been in net, with Philipp Grubauer sporting an unsightly .880 save percentage and 3.18 goals-against average.
Grubauer, who posted 7 shutouts and was a Vezina Trophy finalist for Colorado last season, came to Seattle as a free agent after inking a six-year, $35.4 million deal.
"We certainly felt going into the season that we would be a competitive team," GM Ron Francis told the Seattle Times. "We've had some games from the start of the season where I've felt we found a way to lose rather than gain a point or two. And when you give up 6 or 8 of those points, you're in a different situation than you're sitting in now."
Which is in last place in the Pacific Division. Seattle's lost six of seven, generating just 13 power-play chances in those contests.
So it should be a hungry bunch of Kraken come Wednesday.
"Seattle's record's not amazing," said Hawks defenseman Connor Murphy. "But they look like a really hardworking team and still have a really good lineup and play hard and fast in their own building."
After facing Seattle the Hawks play at Edmonton (11-3-0), Vancouver (5-9-2) and Calgary (8-3-4). This trip will be a great measuring stick for King's squad. Nab at least 2 victories and the momentum continues to grow. Slip back, though, and doubts could creep back in.
The Hawks, who yielded 32.4 shots on goal per game under Jeremy Colliton, have been much better fundamentally under King. They held Nashville to 21 SOG and Arizona to 23, the two lowest numbers of the season. Pittsburgh did fire 44 shots, but 22 came in the third period or OT as the Penguins stormed back from a 2-0 deficit.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 64 of 67 shots in the last two games to improve his save percentage from .881 to .897.
"It feels nice," Fleury said. "Just walking in the room seeing guys smile at practice, before the games, during the game. We want to do better for this team and for the fans.
Injury updates:
Forward Brandon Hagel, who has missed two games with a shoulder injury, practiced at Fifth Third Arena on Tuesday. He was wearing a noncontact white jersey. ... Tyler Johnson remains out with a neck injury and is day to day. ...
Defenseman Caleb Jones continues to practice as he comes back from a wrist injury. He should play at some point on the road trip. "I'm really ready," Jones said Monday. "It feels like it was like a year ago that I got hurt in training camp."
He said it:
"I'll look up in the stands and if Jimmy (Waite is) waving a red flag then I'll be like: 'All right. It's time.'"
Derek King on when he'll pull a struggling goalie
He said it II:
"I'm out of breath from walking those stairs. We might have to have a look at me."
Derek King shortly after sitting down for his presser Tuesday at Fifth Third Arena