Kraken (0-0-0) at Flames (0-0-0) | 6:00 p.m.

One: Stay out of the box – The Kraken did not fare all that well their last two preseason games when it came to penalty kills so it’s probably best to avoid a plethora of infractions in this one. There were quite a few fireworks when these teams met twice in the preseason including a fight filled second period last Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena.

Calgary managed to draw some retaliation from the Kraken in that game after a handful of hits including one that now has Mackie Samoskevich on injured reserve. And while it’s great to see the Kraken standing up for one another, they need to pick and choose how they’re going to play it if the rough stuff begins anew. They let last Thursday’s game start to get away from them by taking some extra penalties before rallying in the final period. Then, last Saturday in Vancouver, they drew an additional two minutes late in the game when Ryan Winterton tried to avenge a neutral zone hit on Shane Wright. The ensuing Canucks power play led to the winning goal a split second after Winterton’s penalty expired. 

Ahead of that, a first period power play goal got Vancouver back in a game the Kraken had been dominating to that point until Ryker Evans was penalized for holding an opponent’s stick.

The Kraken had the second worst penalty kill in the league last season and have been trying to find improvement by utilizing speed from guys like Samoskevich and Bobby McMann who haven't performed in that role at the NHL level before. 

So, while the Kraken are still working out some penalty kill kinks, it’s best they make sure any infractions they do take are worth it. A lot of messages were already sent the last time these two teams met. The Kraken don’t need to be sending more unless the situation truly justifies it.

Two: Keep powering the power play – Credit where it’s due. While opposing teams had some power play success in the preseason the Kraken also fared well with the man advantage in going 5-for-14 (35.7%). Most of the goals came early on when it was mainly AHL prospects playing. But the Kraken regulars moved the puck around well last Saturday against the Canucks and it led to a quick goal by Brandon Montour on a 97 mph slapper from the point. 

It’s no secret the Kraken need to score more goals after averaging a fifth-worst 2.73 per game last season. The power play is one way to do that. They were 20th overall last season, which was a better rate than their 5-on-5 scoring, so it’s already partway there but could use an even bigger bump.

Three: Know your foe – The Kraken will know the Flames really well by the time November rolls around. After the two preseason affairs, they’ll now play them Thursday in Calgary and then again in Sunday’s home opener. After that, there’s an Oct. 30 game back in Calgary and then a home contest Nov. 4 and that’ll be it for the season series.

The Flames are rebuilding with a plethora of young talent but not a whole lot on the expectations side. That can sometimes make teams dangerous as they catch opponents by surprise. 

Calgary almost made the playoffs two seasons ago ahead of losing out on a tiebreaker. But last season was all about committing to a rebuild as the team dealt restricted free agent Rasmus Andersson along with MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri.  

They are led in goal by former Everett Silvertips netminder Dustin Wolf, while the defense has young puck movers Simon Nemec and Zayne Parekh.

The forwards include some veterans in team captain Mikael Backlund and Ryan Strome, 27-year-old Morgan Frost plus recent first rounders Matvei Gridin, Matt Coronato, Sam Honzek and Connor Zary. 

Flames forward Martin Pospisil missed 49 games last season due to a concussion but he’s back and usually in the thick of things when playing the Kraken. 

Projected Lineup (not official):
McCann-Beniers-Kakko
McMann-Stephenson-Eberle
Wright-Catton-Winterton
Melanson-Gaudreau-Douglas

Dunn-Larsson
Evans-Montour
Lindgren-Mahura

Daccord