Jared McCann's third-period goal and Joey Daccord's 26 saves lifted the visiting Kraken over the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers in regulation.

Regardless of what has happened thus far this season, the Florida Panthers are still the defending Stanley Cup champions. It’s a well-worn cliché that everyone is gunning for you when you’re on top. The Kraken came to town ‘jacked’ and ready for the Panthers.

Mackie Samoskevich had seemingly given the Panthers a 2-1 lead late in the second period, but Evan Rodrigues was called for a questionable goalie interference.

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey looks at the scheduled games and offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups.

Pagnotta: “Yes. Seattle, there’s a lot of noise around the Kraken right now, and that isn’t often the case because they like to keep a big lid on things. But there are so many players that they’re listing on right now, that more word is starting to really come out.

The Seattle Kraken continue their road trip with a battle against the Tampa Bay Lightning and will do so with Ales Stezka in between the pipes.