Blackhawks (5-4-3) vs Kraken (5-2-4) | 7:00 p.m.

One: This Isn’t A Menu

There’s shot selection and then there’s just being picky. When you’ve had only 12 shots on goal through 60 minutes of regulation play, it’s trending more towards the latter. The Kraken need to start taking more shots than they did Saturday night against the New York Rangers when tallying their all-time low for one contest. They managed one shot in overtime to push it to 13, but that still beat the prior low by four.

Sure, you can argue the Soviet Central Red Army tied the Montreal Canadiens 3-3 on New Year’s Eve 1975 by taking only 13 shots in what many rank as one of the greatest games in hockey history. But the Kraken, now last in the NHL in total shots with 263, aren’t quite what the legendary Red Army was when it comes to skating, pinpoint passing and positioning to set up the perfect goal.

Kraken coach Lane Lambert shook up the forward lines at Monday’s morning skate, moving Eeli Tolvanen up to the top trio with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle, while Berkly Catton appeared the odd man out. Jani Nyman moved up to centerman Shane Wright’s trio along with Mason Marchment, while Kaapo Kakko was moved to a line with Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz.

We’ll see how that translates come puck drop.

We know the Kraken need to shoot more because Lambert has said as much for most of a week starting last Tuesday, when his team generated just 10 shots through the first 40 minutes against Montreal. And that was an actual shot blizzard compared to what the Kraken did over 60 minutes against the Rangers.

The Kraken were fortunate to come away with a point apiece for overtime losses in both games against formidable opponents. The NHL record for fewest shots to record a win is nine, shared by the San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs a few months apart in the 1998-99 season when they somehow scored four goals each in respective 4-0 victories. This season, the Los Angeles Kings and Monday night’s Blackhawks opponent each managed a win with just 14 shots. The Kraken could have tied that mark by putting one last overtime puck in the net on Saturday.

But let’s get real: For the Kraken to continue picking up points via tight defense and goaltending, they need to start getting pucks through to the net – never mind inside of it -- at least a tad more.

Two: No Offense, But, Where’s The Offense?

One byproduct of not shooting is being unable to score. The Kraken have drifted to 24^th of 32 teams in goals per game with just 2.73 and are last in the league in “expected” goals at 29 according to MoneyPuck. That’s not going to keep snagging points if it continues. Having Kaapo Kakko back in the lineup should help as will getting Jared McCann back at some point in the not-too-distant future. Ryker Evans returning should supply a bit more offense out of the back end as well. But the Kraken have scored more than three goals just twice in 11 games and both of those exceptions netted them just four goals each time.

They need to start generating more chances in close, the way they did to start the season. The Kraken sit last in the league in shots from high danger and medium danger areas and are just 25^th in the percentage of their goals coming from rebounds.

“The last couple of games we’ve talked about shot volume and shots creating other shots,” Lambert said Monday. “Just putting more pucks to the net. You’ve got to score ‘greasy’ goals in this league. We’re not going to be able to pass it into the net.”

They must also start giving goalie Joey Daccord a little more support, hopefully to the tune of another goal per game on some nights. Daccord has somehow managed to lose just one of nine starts in regulation, boasting a 5-1-3 record. But his save percentage and goals saved above expected numbers are starting to drift a little south as he appears in the overwhelming percentage of his team’s games.

Now would be a good time to start giving him a bit of a cushion.

Three: Know The Foe

These aren’t the same Blackhawks used as a punching bag the past few seasons. They’ve bolstered their crop of young talent, led by former No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard, with some veteran talent including the likes of former Kraken forwards Ryan Donato and Andre Burakovsky, the latter of which makes his Climate Pledge Arena return following last summer’s trade.

Bedard leads the team with six goals and nine assists, while Burakovsky is tied for third in team scoring with four goals and five assists. Burakovsky is also riding a three-game point streak and has a pair of multi-point efforts in his three prior career games facing them. Donato is tied with Bedard for the team lead in goals after signing a four-year, $16 million contract extension back in June.

This will be their third game of five on a West Coast road swing, having dropped the first two against tough customers in Winnipeg and Edmonton though picking up a point.

They’ve been stingy in net with a .907 save percentage as a team, a mark that’s eighth best in the league. Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight has a .913 save percentage, having made nine of 12 starts and most recently stopping 27 of 30 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss Saturday night in Edmonton.

Projected Lines/Pairings (not official):

Tolvanen - Beniers - Eberle
Marchment - Wright - Nyman
Schwartz - Stephenson - Kakko
Kartye - Meyers - Winterton

Dunn - Larsson
Lindgren - Montour
Mahura - Oleksiak

Daccord