3 Game Essentials | Kraken (16-9-3) at Hurricanes (16-6-6) | 4 p.m.

RALEIGH, NC -The biggest challenge the Kraken will face is getting through the Hurricanes' defense. Carolina ranks tops in the league in limiting time in the offensive zone, shot quality, and shot volume. And when you do get a shot attempt, it's a challenge to get second and third chances after with the Canes' allowing the fewest rebound scoring chances in the NHL. If you get past the skaters, 23-year-old Pyotr Kochetkov, who is playing his first full season in the national hockey league, has been standing tall in net. He is coming off his second consecutive shutout and has a 7-1-4 record that is built on eight quality starts including three shutouts. Carolina is pretty high on their young goaltender too. They've already signed him to a four-year extension that begins next season.
After Tuesday's loss in Tampa, head coach Dave Hakstol liked a large part of his team's effort, just not when it began. "We started a little bit slow," Hakstol said. "They were there on top of us the first 10 minutes. After the second goal went in, it took us a couple minutes to recover. But for the next 30 minutes, we were a good hockey team. We did a lot of really good things."

The numbers reinforce the coach's point. As play went along the Kraken not only limited the most dangerous types of chances by Tampa more and more, they started to generate offense of their own. A strong start will be key in developing a consistent attack against Carolina's defense - and also an effort to quiet their offense.

The Kraken penalty kill has tightened up and is performing well. In the last four games, Seattle has been short-handed 13 times and allowed only two goals against. While credit goes to every player on this side of special teams, it's worth noting that this stretch coincides with the return of Morgan Geekie to the lineup. This season, he's been one of the top four forwards used on the penalty kill (42:16), and, per Natural Stat Trick, tilts the ice the most towards the Kraken in terms of both shot volume and shot quality when he's on the ice. Staying true on the penalty kill will be important once again as the Kraken play without Jamie Oleksiak on the backend (suspension), and go against a Hurricanes power play that has struggled this season with just a 17.9-percent success rate (27th in the league).