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One: Follow the new guy’s lead

Kaapo Kakko is doing everything expected of him and more since last month’s trade from the New York Rangers. With three goals and five assists in the last six games – and four goals and nine assists since joining the team on Dec. 19 -- he’s also reignited linemates Matty Beniers and Jaden Schwartz.

Schwartz has eight goals and six assists since Kakko’s arrival, while Beniers – currently on a three-game points streak -- has six goals and three assists.

The Kraken will take that and any help from forwards they can manage on a team where the defense has accounted for 20% of the 143 goals scored thus far.

Two: Don’t leave it all to Joey

Yes, Joey Daccord is so good in goal sometimes that it’s easy to forget about helping him out. Daccord had gone a dozen straight starts without yielding more than three goals before the Buffalo Sabres popped four on him the other day.

It was right around this time a year ago that Daccord began hitting a bit of a mid-winter wall after an abundance of starts in a row. The Kraken will need to mitigate that these next few outings, particularly against Capitals and Oilers teams among the league’s best. They can start by cleaning up some of the sloppiness seen in the Sabres game and being more diligent on puck clearances, and getting to loose pucks in close.

That said, this has been Daccord’s best month for save percentage all season at .919. And he’s faced an abundance of shots in doing that: 29 or more in five of his last six outings. Cutting down on some of that would go a long way toward helping him out.

Three: Know Your Foe

The Capitals enter having won five straight and are riding an 11-game points streak (8-0-3). Oh yeah, and they have Alex Ovechkin leading the team with 21 goals at age 39, bringing him within 20 of Wayne Gretzky’s career goals mark. Next best scorer on the Caps is…Tom Wilson? Yes, indeed, the pugnacious and talented winger has 20 goals already to sit just four behind his career high from three years ago.

Washington has four guys with 17 or more goals. The Kraken’s top scorer is Schwartz, with 16, which is one reason the Capitals are second in the NHL at goals per game with 3.55.

On the other end, they’re allowing a league-best of just 2.43 goals per game and have the NHL’s third-best penalty kill at 84.5%. So, you aren’t scoring a ton on them. In fact, they’ve allowed two goals or fewer in seven consecutive games.

Logan Thompson is having himself a season, posting a record of 22-2-3 with a goals against average of 2.09 and a save percentage of .925. But despite his great start, Washinton head coach Spencer Carbury announced that goaltender Charlie Lindgren is expected to get the nod on Thursday. Lindgren has been sidelined since January 10 with an upper-body injury.