3 Game Essentials | Kraken vs. Oilers | Dec. 18

One: Shoot more. Spend more time in offensive zone

"We're still turning down too many shots entering the offensive zone, in my opinion," Hakstol said. "We're good when we are a shoot-first mentality [team]. It gives us a chance to retrieve those pucks and get a little motion going."
Hakstol's take jives with comments from SEA captain Mark Giordano after a 4-1 loss in Anaheim. Giordano said his squad needs to generate more possession time in the opponent's end.
"We had no sustained pressure [in the offense zone]," said Giordano, which in turn leads the Kraken to "chasing the game."
"They will make a lot of plays off the rush if you give them time and space," Giordano said about the Pacific-leading Ducks but you certainly can say the same about an Oilers team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
"We didn't put the puck into a spot where we could forecheck and generate zone time," Hakstol said after the Anaheim game.

Two: Focus on Kraken: Appleton of Our Eyes

Forward Mason Appleton, 25, has played 156 NHL games and another nine games of valuable playoff experience. He was a key player for Winnipeg in two postseason rounds last year, scoring a goal and notching two assists while sparking the Jets' third line to successfully battle opponents' top scoring lines.
Appleton has two goals and four assists in 18 games with Seattle, working through injury in the process. Lots of observers pegged him for a breakout year with the Kraken, pushing for a 20-goal season and beyond.
Appleton is front-of-line among his believers, telling reporters Friday his line (Alex Wennberg centering Appleton and Marcus Johansson) is getting good scoring chances, especially the case in Tuesday's win at San Jose. He is veteran enough to know you worry when you don't get those chances.
"I'm gonna score, we're gonna score, we're gonna shut down the other teams' top lines," said Appleton, who prefaced the confident remarks by saying he is feeling "much better with my game" upon returning from injury.
Appleton recorded his second highest time-on-ice minutes in the road win over the Sharks, 18-plus minutes. His highest TOI of the year? 19-plus minutes in a win over Edmonton in the last meeting between these two teams.

Three: Know the Foe: Edmonton Oilers (17-11-0, 4th in Pacific)

When the Oilers left town Dec. 3 after losing a 4-3 thriller to the Kraken, they were happy to be heading toward a six-game homestand. Well, not so fast.
The Oilers lost the first five games of the homestand by scores of 5-1 (Los Angeles), 4-1 (Minnesota), 3-2 (Boston), 3-1 (Carolina) and 5-1 (Toronto). That's a lot of 1's for a team led by McDavid and Draisaitl. The composite score of those five games: 20-6.
Edmonton halted the losing streak Thursday, finishing the homestand with a 5-2 victory over Columbus. Much credit goes to rookie goalie Stuart Skinner, who faced 16 "Grade-A" shots in goal, including two key how-did-he-stop-that saves early in the first and third periods. Plus he stopped a shorthanded breakaway attempt in the middle period that definitely staved off CBJ momentum. All key stops when a reeling Oilers squad needed them most. Expect Skinner in net Saturday.
Like many NHL teams, including Seattle, Edmonton is juggling lineups and AHL callups. EDM forward and assist machine Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is now in protocol, joining centers Devin Shore and Ryan McLeod. Along with that dent in depth, first-liner Zach Hyman is listed as "day-to-day."