Kraken (32-29-10) at Sabres (44-21-8), 2:30 p.m.

One: Stay engaged throughout – You can fault the Kraken for a handful of mistakes in their game against Tampa Bay the other night – most notably another breakaway goal on a poor line change that allowed the Lightning back in the contest very quickly. But you can’t fault how engaged the Kraken were throughout the contest. All of those fights and skirmishes seen in the second period – involving Berkly Catton, Brandon Montour, Vince Dunn and others – were because the Kraken were aware of what was happening around them and were not allowing the Lightning to take physical liberties.

The “smart” play along the wall by Oscar Fisker Molgaard in the neutral zone ahead of the first Kraken goal? That’s because he was engaged and aware. The Shane Wright play in overtime to keep the puck in Tampa Bay’s end so that Montour could score the winner? Again, that’s engagement and awareness of the situation.

Same with Matty Beniers maintaining possession of the puck in overtime just long enough so that winning sequence could get started. 

The Kraken were engaged, aware, invested, committed, whatever you want to call it. They just need more of it.

Two: Feed the beast – Bobby McMann has now scored six goals in seven games for the Kraken since coming over from Toronto at the March 6 trade deadline. His breakaway goal on Tuesday night against Florida might have saved the Kraken season as it tied the game and enabled them to secure a valuable point in a shootout loss.

McMann scored again Thursday night against Tampa Bay to put the Kraken up 3-1. And though the Lightning eventually tied it up, the Kraken never relinquished the lead after McMann’s goal and eventually secured two crucial points with the overtime win.

The goal by McMann was at the net front, which isn’t surprising given he is 6-foot-2, 217 pounds. He was causing problems in front and then once an incoming shot was stopped, he used quick hands to gather the rebound at the side of the net, draw it back and direct it in for a goal before netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy could recover.

Not everyone has the skill to do that in heavy net front traffic. McMann has been a beast since joining the Kraken and they need to keep feeding him in prime spots and let him do his thing. That means taking advantage of his speed by hitting him with passes on-the-fly. And it also means getting pucks to the net when he is standing there so his skills can take over.

Having McMann has enabled the Kraken for now to offset the loss of Jared McCann to injury. They saw a handful of other forwards – Wright, Beniers and Jordan Eberle – banged up against the Lightning and have recalled Logan Morrisson on an emergency basis for Saturday’s game if somebody can’t go. That means, more than ever, the Kraken need to keep riding McMann until they get healthier.

Three: Know the foe – The Sabres had been cruising along as the NHL’s hottest team since jettisoning general manager Kevyn Adams on Dec. 15, the day after defeating the Kraken 3-1 at Climate Pledge Arena. They were 14-14-4 at that point and have gone 30-7-4 ever since Jarmo Kekalainen took over in the front office. 

A GM change doesn’t always mean anything on the ice right away. But Kekalainen served notice the team’s country club days were done and the squad’s talented players seem to have upped their game ever since.

All that said, the Sabres have lost three straight after Detroit beat them 5-2 at home on Friday night. Sure, the first two losses were in overtime and allowed the Sabres to run their points streak to 4-0-2. And sure, Friday’s game saw Alex Lyon give up three goals on the first eight shots before Buffalo held Detroit to just 12 more shots and one goal on an actual goalie the ensuing 45 minutes.

But three losses are still three losses. The Sabres might be coming in tired on the tail-end of back-to-back games, but they also probably feel something to prove. Not to mention, at 96 points they remain tied for the Eastern Conference lead with Carolina. That matters as does the fact the Lightning are only two points behind them for the Atlantic Division lead.

As always, leading scorer Tage Thompson is the guy to watch for the NHL’s third best offense. Thompson has a team-leading 37 goals and 75 points while Alex Tuch has the second most goals at 29 and third most points at 59. Both players did damage to the Kraken in December, with Thompson notching the eventual game winning goal and Tuch adding a pair of assists.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to start in goal, having given up a four-spot against Boston his last time out at home on Wednesday. He also surrendered seven goals at home against Tampa Bay on March 8, so he isn’t exactly impenetrable despite his 2.60 goals against average and .910 save percentage.

The Sabres have a high-octane offense but are not as potent on defense. The Kraken need to capitalize on that and play a structurally sound game that cuts down on mistakes. Will they again go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen? We’ll find out tomorrow along with where Morrison slots into the plan.

Projected lineup (not official):
Catton-Beniers-Eberle
McMann-Stephenson-Kakko
Tolvanen-Molgaard-Wright
Meyers-Gaudreau-

Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour
Oleksiak-Evans
Fleury-

Grubauer