3 Game Essentials | Canucks (19-25-3) at Kraken (27-14-5) | 7 p.m.

One: Kraken Depth Put to the Test
After playing 14 games in 25 days, the Kraken welcomed the rare three days between games. Tuesday's practice was the only one at Kraken Community Iceplex for the entire month. With three games in the next four nights, there's one more push before the All-Star break that starts Sunday. Reviewing the Seattle injury list, that ASG week off will be timely too.
Defenseman Justin Schultz has played a big role in the Kraken turnaround. But he's missed the last two games (with Will Borgen ably moving up to second pair and Cale Fleury just as effectively taking on third-pair minutes with Carson Soucy) and Dave Hakstol updated Schultz's status as "week-to-week," indicating he won't be available until at least the New York metro area/Philadelphia/Winnipeg road trip beginning Feb. 5.

Hakstol said Tuesday the veteran forward group of alternate captains Yanni Gourde and Jaden Schwartz plus leading scorer Andre Burakovsky are all "day-to-day" with undisclosed injuries. The SEA head coach offered that he didn't think Schwartz would play Wednesday against the Canucks while Gourde and Burakovsky will be game-time decisions.
##### Two: Greater Expectations for Next Men Up
Hakstol said his team's performance needs to be better Wednesday compared to the Colorado shootout loss. He didn't name individuals, but Hakstol was referencing forwards moving up in the line rotation and players joining the power play and/or penalty-kill units.
"We had some holes the other night," said Hakstol. "Some of the guys with new opportunities, to be honest, have to do a little better in those elevated positions. That's part of the opportunity, always building off the previous performance, right? I mean, let's be blunt, we've got to be a little bit better than we were the other night. That means individuals who stepped into larger roles can also be a little bit better... the goal is not to come away with one point, but with two points."
##### Three: About Time to Beat the Canucks
Kraken fans know the situation: Vancouver has won all six previous meetings between these two proximate franchises, five in regulation. Vancouver is one of only four franchises the Kraken have yet to defeat (whittling the list in half in recent weeks). The others are Columbus (here on Saturday), Philadelphia (which the Kraken face twice in five days during mid-February), and Tampa Bay (after the MLK overtime loss, the Kraken don't see TBL again this regular season).
The Canucks defeated Chicago Tuesday night under new head coach Rick Tocchet who replaced Bruce Boudreau. Despite being the second of back-to-back nights, expect division-rival Vancouver to start the game with plenty of adrenaline. Look out for Elias Pettersson, who leads the VAN attack with 54 points (19 G, 35 A). He scored the shootout winner for the Canucks in an OT win over the Kraken right before the winter holiday break.