Paul Maurice About to Make History, and the Kraken Are in His Way Tuesday Night
Paul Maurice is about to join one of the most exclusive clubs in NHL history. When the Florida Panthers host the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday, Maurice will become just the second head coach ever to hit 2,000 games behind the bench. Only Scotty Bowman, who coached 2,141 games during his Hall of Fame career, has ever done it before. This is huge.
Since taking over the Panthers before the 2022-23 season, Maurice has posted a 175-119-21 record and, oh yeah, won the franchise's first two Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025. That's not a bad resume for the milestone moment. Maurice reflected on his journey, which started back in 1995, saying "This has been an incredible experience," and acknowledging the full spectrum of emotions that comes with a coaching career at this level.
The Kraken Are Struggling and Running Out of Time
Here's the problem for Seattle: they're heading to Florida in a rough stretch. The Kraken sit at 31-29-9 and are sitting four points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Over their last 10 games, Seattle has gone 3-7-0. They just dropped a 5-2 loss at Columbus on Saturday, with Vince Dunn and Kaapo Kakko scoring the only goals while the Blue Jackets raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back.
Jordan Eberle is still carrying the load in scoring with 49 points (22G, 27A). Matty Beniers (44 points) and Chandler Stephenson (41 points) are right there too. On defense, Adam Larsson is expected to appear in his 1,000th NHL game tonight and has 19 points (5G, 14A) from the blue line.
A Recent Win Gives Seattle Some Hope
The good news? The Kraken already beat the Panthers once this season, winning 6-2 at Climate Pledge Arena on March 15. Kakko had a goal and two assists, and Joey Daccord stopped 23 of 25 shots. Maurice wasn't happy about that loss, telling reporters "We just felt we were very, very slow," and talking about needing to move faster and play a better style.
Daccord has posted a 19-18-5 record with a .901 save percentage this season. The Panthers will counter with Sergei Bobrovsky, who just shut out Edmonton and moved into a tie with Curtis Joseph for seventh place all-time in wins (454). Over his last four starts, Bobrovsky is 3-1-0 with a .922 save percentage.
Tuesday night, Maurice gets his moment in the spotlight. Seattle just has to hope they can spoil the party and pick up a critical two points in their playoff push.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.