Kraken (32-33-11) at Wild (44-21-12) | 5:00 p.m.

One: Score some goals – We’ve stated this one plenty all season, but if the Kraken hope to win another game they are going to need to score more than twice.

They have scored only two goals or fewer in 14 of 20 games since the Winter Olympic break. During that span, they are 1-12-1, so yes, unless they find a third or fourth goal in there someplace the odds of winning any of the six remaining games dwindles considerably.

Even at the worst of their struggles earlier this season, the offense wasn’t functioning this poorly. Part of that is a power play that’s been worst in the NHL at below 10% since the break. The power play didn’t even get an opportunity in Winnipeg, but when it does it will have to start cashing in.

The Jets game saw the Kraken doing well at even-strength play early on, but then, the pressure flat out stopped. By the 14^th minute of the second period, the Kraken were being outshot 13-1. Some of that was due to successive penalties taken midway through the frame, but you aren’t going to score many goals with just one shot through two thirds of any period.

Switching up the forward lines saw Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann each score only their third goal in their last 19 games respectively, so perhaps the Kraken are on to something. Two even strength goals isn’t the worst outcome if the power play can supplement that with at least one more.

It’s rare to see a team not afforded any power play chances at all in a game. Odds are that luck should change for the better for the Kraken against the Wild, so they need to find answers with the man advantage.

Two: Win some puck battles – The Wild are staging “Prince Night” for this game, and to borrow from his lyrics, the Kraken can ill afford to play like doves or they’ll likely be sent packing in tears. They need to battle hard for pucks and actually prevail more often than not.

The other night in Winnipeg, for the fourth straight game, advanced analytics from SportLogiq had the Kraken losing at least two thirds of all puck battles and that won’t cut it. The final count in Winnipeg was 72%-28% in favor of the Jets. It was 73%-27% in Chicago’s favor on Saturday night, 67%-33% for Utah on Thursday night and 77%-23% favoring the Oilers in Edmonton last Tuesday. 

Incidentally, the Kraken also were on the short end of a 61%-39% spread in Buffalo prior and a 67%-33% margin at Tampa Bay before that – still at least winning that game in overtime after blowing a two-goal lead – and they were also a 71%-29% puck battle loser in Florida. 

The last time the Kraken prevailed in any puck battle count was in Columbus some 2 ½ weeks ago back on March 21 when they captured 62% of them. Yes, they still lost the game after falling behind 3-0 early and then fighting back into it before Columbus put it out of reach late.

But it’s tough to compete when you’re getting beat for loose pucks at regular intervals. The stats don’t always tell the whole story, but this is a repeat trend we’ve seen that’s tough to ignore.

Want to know why the Kraken keep struggling on the penalty kill? They are now at 71.7% efficiency, barely ahead of the NHL-worst Vancouver Canucks at 71.6% penalty kill success. Well, when you’re down a man, it becomes imperative to win a puck battle or two and clear the zone. Kraken coach Lane Lambert spoke about “commitment” being key to the penalty kill. It’s also key to winning puck battles. You need to engage and be determined to prevail. 

Three: Know the foe – The schedule isn’t the Kraken’s friend down the stretch and that is evidenced by the 100-point Wild being Tuesday night’s opponent. Minnesota has gone 8-1-1 against the Kraken their last 10 meetings and goal scoring has been at a premium when facing them. They’ve allowed the fourth fewest goals per game in the league at 2.83 with the Kraken managing just three goals combined their three prior games facing the Wild. They lost 3-2 in overtime and 4-1 this season at home and 4-0 the last time they played at Grand Casino Arena a year ago last March.

Minnesota has won three in a row and five of seven and is only two points behind second place Dallas in the Central Division, so they still have plenty left to play for.

As always, the Kraken need to be mindful of Kirill Kaprizov, who has 17 points in 11 career games against them. And of Matt Boldy, who has 15 points against the Kraken in 12 games. 

We’ll see who gets to try to stop Minnesota’s offense from a Kraken goalie perspective, with Philipp Grubauer suffering a lower body injury in Winnipeg and Joey Daccord finishing the final period-plus. Matt Murray hasn’t played in nearly five months so it will be an interesting call.

Projected lineup: (not official)
McMann-Beniers-Eberle
Schwartz-Stephenson-Tolvanen
McCann-Catton-Kakko
Winterton-Fisker Molgaard-Gaudreau

Dunn-Fleury
Evans-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour

Daccord