Golden Knights (36-26-16) vs. Kraken (32-34-11) | 7:00 p.m.

One: Cut down on the mistakes – The Kraken did a lot of things right in their loss in Minnesota, including winning most of the puck battles for the first time in 2 ½ weeks. They also scored twice in the opening period, then nearly had a third goal in the second that got overturned on a challenge for goaltender interference.

They also nearly scored a power play goal as Brandon Montour’s slapper entered the net just one second after a penalty expired. It doesn’t count officially and the struggling Kraken power play still gets 0-for-3 attached to it. But it was as good as a power play goal since the penalized player had not gotten back to the action. 

Al that good stuff said, the Kraken still blew the game due to miscues. They turned the puck over and allowed odd-man rushes against, which has become a common problem since the Winter Olympic break. They also blew coverage assignments left and right, to where opposing players were left to have a net-front picnic in front of Joey Daccord.

If it seems like every single Kraken mistake has wound up in the back of the net of late, that’s because they have. The Kraken have played a bunch of very good and very hungry teams the past month. Starting with the home loss to Tampa Bay early last month where the Lightning put on passing clinics on most of their goals, the Kraken have given the puck away too freely to teams that know exactly what to do with it.

The teams won’t get much easier, so the mistakes need to stop.

Two: Get the power play going for real – Yes, the Montour goal was akin to a power play marker but the team’s official mark of 5-for-54 since the break is just a 9.2% efficiency rate and a huge reason the Kraken’s playoff aspirations have evaporated. We’ve offered a bunch of possible explanations, mostly dealing with a lack of overall offensive confidence in general throughout the team right now. 

But some of what coach Lane Lambert alluded to on Tuesday in Minnesota – passes into teammates’ skates – involves mere basics. Sure, when players grip their sticks too tight due to pressure, they can make all kinds of basic mistakes like not completing a straightforward pass. But that’s a lesson to carry forward for another time. That playoff race pressure? All but officially over right now due largely to a lack of scoring.

So, go out, make some passes and score some goals.

The Kraken have scored two goals or fewer in 15 of 21 games since the break. They are 1-13-1 in those games. Since taking a 2-0 lead in Buffalo a couple of weekends ago, they’ve now gone six straight games without scoring more than two and lost all six. We can talk about the team’s defensive gaffes and all the extra goals they’ve allowed the past month, but plenty of those mistakes were because of players desperately pressing forward in search of more offense at the expense of a little defense.

The Kraken need to pad leads once they take them. Scoring some power play goals will help with that pursuit. Score only two total goals in any game, it won’t matter how sound your defense is because you’ll lose nine times out of 10. We know that already because we just showed you the Kraken have lost at an even greater rate than that when scoring twice or worse.

Three: Know the foe – Vegas recently added a whole new franchise chapter to its ruthless pursuit of victory by firing coach Bruce Cassidy with eight games to go in the season and replacing him with John Tortorella. Since then, they’ve won all four games they’ve played and outscored opponents by a combined 17-7. 

Onetime Everett Silvertips netminder Carter Hart returned from a long-term injury on April 2 and started the last three games for the Golden Knights, allowing just five goals. Hart and Tortorella last teamed together as goalie and coach with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2022 to 2024, when the netminder was suspended following sexual assault charges related to the 2018 Hockey Canada scandal predating his NHL days. Hart was found not guilty last July and allowed to sign with an NHL team.

Hart could give Vegas the No. 1 goalie its been looking for heading into the playoffs. The team’s combined save percentage of .876 is fourth worst in the league.

Then again, the fact Vegas is even thinking about playoffs right now is a good sign. When they fired Cassidy, they seemed in danger of missing them. Now, they spent Wednesday tied with the Edmonton Oilers for top spot in the Pacific Division. 

Vegas is led offensively by Jack Eichel’s team-leading 82 points while last summer’s big free agent signing, Mitch Marner, is next at 77. Mark Stone returned from his latest injury on March 13 and now has 67 points in only 56 games.

The Kraken have beaten these guys twice this season. To do it again, they need to move big bodies from the net front and get in front of some of those incoming shots from the points Vegas loves to spread around.

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

Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour
Oleksiak-Evans

Daccord