Kraken (32-32-11) at Jets (33-31-11) | 4:30 p.m.

One: Silence the crowd – Jets fans can be very vocal and supportive when it comes to their team, and the Kraken did a great job of silencing the Canada Life Centre crowd the last time they were in here back in late October. In fact, the Kraken were so dominant and defensively smothering that night in a 3-0 victory that the locals began turning on the home squad, booing them throughout the second and third periods.

Plenty has changed since then, but plenty has not. The Kraken remain a team that’s going to succeed when they win puck battles and stick within a sound defensive structure. They only scored two goals in regulation that night before getting a third one into an empty net when the Jets opted for the extra attacker late.

It wasn’t the same story the other night against Chicago. The Kraken did score what’s becoming a requisite two-goal output, but waited until the third period to get both goals, and each came when they were already down a pair. You can wait a while to score on the Jets as well, which the Kraken did here the last time by getting their first goal in the second period and then their second with under two minutes to play in the third.

But of the 32 shots they yielded that night, most were kept to the perimeter, and goalie Joey Daccord had only a handful of high danger stops to make in recording the shutout. By contrast, Philipp Grubauer was busy from the get-go against Chicago the other night.

SportLogiq data shows the Kraken yielded 12 “high danger” chances to the Blackhawks compared to generating seven of their own. Grubauer wound up allowing three goals, but the data showed he had saved two more from going in based on shot quality.

How did that many opposing chances get generated? The Kraken lost 73% of the puck battles. Do that in Winnipeg, it’ll be a quick night.

Two: Get the top line going – More is needed from the top line of Jared McCann, Matty Beniers, and Jordan Eberle. The trio has struggled down the stretch, and it’s probably no coincidence the power play is also in a 0-for-14 rut – 5-for-51 since the Winter Olympic break -- given the outsized role those three players have on it.

McCann and Eberle each have scored only twice over their last 18 games. Beniers has one goal in his last 10 contests and four in his last 16. 

In other words, the top line trio mainstays have as many combined goals the last month or so as Bobby McMann has managed by himself in his first 11 Kraken games.

They are not the lone reason for the Kraken going 1-6-2 down the stretch. But Eberle and Beniers are the team’s top two point getters, while McCann is their highest points-per-game getter due to injuries limiting him to just 48 matchups. 

Whichever way your top line goes, the rest of the team typically follows.

Three: Know the foe – OK, who had the Winnipeg Jets vying for a playoff spot two months ago? You in the back with your hand raised, sit down. You’re a liar.

Or, you probably should have let the Jets in on that secret before they traded away pending free agents Luke Scheen, Logan Stanley, and Tanner Pearson a month ago at the deadline. 

The Jets enter this game three points ahead of the Kraken and still within hope of a playoff spot after spending much of the season near the NHL’s basement. Winnipeg is 7-3-2 in their last dozen games and 11-6-4 since the Winter Olympic break, after going 22-25-8 to begin the season. Sure, not quite what we’ve seen from Buffalo and Columbus as far as turnarounds go. But in a top-heavy Western Conference, it’s been good enough to give them something to play for the final two weeks.

Funny thing is, the Jets and Kraken are mirror images of one another in terms of goals scored and allowed. The Jets are averaging 2.80 goals per game compared to 2.79 for the Kraken. 

And, more surprisingly, the ordinarily stingy Winnipeg squad is giving up 3.00 goals per contest compared to 3.08 for the Kraken. 

Expect to see goalie Connor Hellebuyck make his 18^th start in 20 games for the Jets, even though he hasn’t really been the guy leading their resurgence coming off his Olympic gold medal win for Team USA. He’s gone 8-5-4 with a 2.74 goals against average and .895 save percentage. The Kraken have already beaten him twice this season and can sweep the season series with Winnipeg for the first time with another victory. 

Overall, the Jets are 10-4-0 lifetime when facing the Kraken.

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

Dunn - Larsson
Lindgren - Montour
Evans - Oleksiak

Grubauer