Senators (14-19-0) vs. Kraken (15-14-9) | 7:00 p.m.

One: Hakstol: ‘We’ve Given Ourselves a Chance’

Monday’s Winter Classic was one for the ages, especially here in the PNW but, believe it, fans and media are still talking about it across North America. Dave Hakstol reiterated how amazing and wonderful it all turned out to be for his team after practice Wednesday, but his last answer Monday afternoon from the dais usually featuring MLB players and coaches, the Kraken coach hammered out what’s behind the current nine-game points streak that has set a franchise record.

This team is different,” said Hakstol. “In order to gain some traction and push in the right direction here, we've had to do it with a defensive mindset, a grinding type of mindset. We haven't been able to score our way to wins. We were able to do that at times last year. We became very confident in that type of mindset ... The makeup of our group is a little bit different."

“We still have a lot of work left to do. But if you look at it from where we were a couple of weeks ago to where we are today, We've given ourselves a chance and an opportunity to keep climbing and keep working towards something.”

That something is to be squarely in playoff contention, a bit of stretch when December started in the throes of an eight-game-winless streak. As January’s indoors schedule commences, Seattle is one of three-best teams over the last 10 games with a 7-1-2 record (that one loss was a 1-0 shutout at home against Minnesota). The other two teams? Vancouver, which has passed Vegas for first in the Pacific Division, and Winnipeg, knocking on the door of the top spot in the Central with two games in hand on leader Colorado.

Two: Blocking Shots, Going ‘Fourth,’ Next Man Up

When talking about the nine-game points streak fueling a Kraken turnaround in the standings, Dave Hakstol went straight to blocked shots, saying he would “have to use both hands” for the number of shot blocks in those nine games. He also talked about Pierre-Edouard Bellemare pacing the fourth line and then rookie Tye Kartye (he had not played center as a pro until Bellemare went to the injured list) stepping up. Kartye said Monday he ramped up his faceoff drills in practices and morning skates in anticipation of moving to center in case of injury.

It’s all part of the well-versed next-man-up mentality that tends to be most referenced in football. To that end, fourth-liners Kartye and linemate Kailer Yamamoto have been playing with Andre Burakovsky, back from injury and, guess here, not likely to be on the so-called fourth line all second half of the season ahead. Thursday is bobblehead night for Jaden Schwartz, whom Hakstol referred to as “day-to-day” for his return and, well, Thursday is a day away from Wednesday and the alternate captain has looked solid in on-ice workouts. Check back on the Kraken app for any updates on Schwartz, who was among Kraken scoring leaders before missing the last 14 games.

Three: Know the Foe: Senators 3-7-0 in Last 10 Games

During the eight-game winless streak now offset by the current points streak, Seattle dropped a 2-0 decision to Thursday's visitors. Ottawa has struggled since then despite a coaching change. The Sens are 3-4 since veteran coach Jacques Martin replaced D.J. Smith, the latter liked by the younger group of Ottawa players (leading scorer Tim Stutzle was especially vocal about Smith giving opportunities to any number of young teammates, including himself). This date on schedule looks like the same winnable game it did back on Dec. 2, but players looking to make an impression on a new coach have their own ideas about what’s winnable. Ottawa does have 14 wins, just one less than Seattle, but also 19 losses and no decisions via overtime or shootouts.