The Seattle Kraken take a three-game win streak into Benchmark International Arena on Thursday night to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in a matchup of two teams off to strong starts in the 2026-27 season. Seattle sits at 5-2-0 in the Pacific Division while Tampa Bay is 4-2-0 in the Atlantic, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. ET. The Kraken enter on a hot stretch that includes wins in five of their last six games, and this matchup against a Lightning club perfect at home so far will test how that form holds up away from Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena comfort.
Kraken Vs Lightning Game Information
- Date: Thursday, Oct. 15
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Venue: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, Florida
- TV/Streaming: ESPN+, The Spot – MTN, KONG, KHN, Prime Video (Local)
- Series: First meeting of the 2026-27 season
Kraken Outlook
Seattle is off to a 5-2-0 start and has won four of its last five, including road victories over Detroit and Washington and a shootout win at Philadelphia. The Kraken rank fifth in the league with 28 total goals and are averaging 4.20 per game through their first five contests, up sharply from 2.73 a year ago, according to NHL.com. Jared McCann paces the roster with seven points, while Chandler Stephenson leads the team with six assists and Frederick Gaudreau has a team-high four goals.
Seattle’s power play has converted 4 of 15 chances (26.7%) early in the season, and depth scoring has been a factor. The fourth line of Ben Meyers, Gaudreau and Ryan Winterton combined for seven points in the win over Detroit, and Mackie Samoskevich has three goals in four games since returning from an upper-body injury. Defenseman Vince Dunn has five points and Brandon Montour has added four assists.
Joey Daccord is listed as the probable starting goaltender and carries a 2.64 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage, while backup Philipp Grubauer has posted a 2.59 GAA and a .917 save percentage in limited work. Seattle is 4-1-0 on the road this season.
Forward Jacob Melanson remains on injured reserve with a chest injury and is not expected back until Dec. 1. Defenseman Ryan Lindgren (upper body) is on injured reserve with a return date listed as Nov. 19, and center Jake O’Brien (lower body) is targeting an Oct. 24 return.
Lightning Outlook
Tampa Bay enters at 4-2-0 and has been dominant at home, going 3-0-0 at Benchmark International Arena this season. The Lightning are also 3-1-0 in games in which they take fewer penalty minutes than their opponent, a pattern worth watching against a Kraken team that has logged 96 penalty minutes already. Brandon Hagel leads Tampa Bay with eight points on four goals, and Nikita Kucherov tops the roster with seven assists.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is projected as the Lightning’s starting goaltender for Thursday. Tampa Bay’s defensive numbers include a .901 team save percentage and a 2.67 goals-against average on the season. Goaltender Dennis Hildeby is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury and has a target return date of Oct. 15, while center Yanni Gourde remains on injured reserve following hip surgery, with a return date not expected until Dec. 2.
Key Matchup
Seattle’s offense, which ranks fifth in the league with 28 goals and a 14.9% shooting percentage, will meet a Tampa Bay defense that has allowed 16 goals and owns a .901 save percentage. The Kraken’s power play has clicked at 26.7% to start the year, while the Lightning have scored on only two of their power-play chances so far. If Daccord can match his 2.64 GAA against a Tampa Bay attack led by Hagel and Kucherov, Seattle’s depth scoring, which produced seven points from its fourth line alone against Detroit, gives it a path to extend its win streak on the road.
Jared McCann, Kraken
McCann leads Seattle with seven points on one goal and five assists, and he scored the go-ahead goal with 5:27 remaining in the Kraken’s 5-3 win over Washington on Sunday.
Brandon Hagel, Lightning
Hagel leads Tampa Bay in both goals (4) and points (8) through the team’s first six games of the season.
What To Watch
Seattle is in the middle of a five-game road trip that opened with a 6-3 win at Detroit, and Thursday’s game in Tampa represents a chance to extend both that trip’s success and the team’s three-game win streak. Kraken forward Jordan Eberle described the early-season approach after Sunday’s win over Washington, telling reporters, “The beginning of the year is always kind of weird. Teams are still figuring it out.
You’re still figuring it out. You’re just kind of waiting for the games to get harder, and every 10-15 games they do. So, I think we’re happy with how things are right now,” according to NHL.com.
Tampa Bay’s perfect home record will be tested against a Kraken team that has outscored opponents by a wide margin early in the season, according to FOX Sports.
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