Wild (27-24-6) at Kraken (24-21-11)  | 7:00 p.m.

One: McCann-Do Attitude

The most notable fact about Jared McCann’s extended hot streak goes beyond the 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in his last 16 games, vaulting him to the team lead in goals (25) and points (45). What’s most impressive is the Kraken expansion draft pick from Toronto has registered points in 14 of the last 16 games, including a current six-game point streak since returning from the All-Star break and a second six-game point run before the week off, save going without a goal or assist on January 30th in San Jose. He has yet another six-game streak: With his first-ever four-point night Thursday in the decisive drubbing of Vancouver (which drafted him in the first round, No. 24 overall, back in 2014), McCann has five goals and five assists in the half-dozen games at Climate Pledge.

“A couple of nights ago [Monday vs. Detroit] he scored a couple of different ways, getting inside and finding the goal at net front, drawing penalties, being in hard areas,” said Dave Hakstol post-game Thursday. “Tonight’s power play goal, he was in the right spot. They [in the person of VAN defenseman Ian Cole] were looking for a clear up the middle that didn't work out. It landed on our tape for us, that's the right guy to get the puck in that spot. [McCann] is playing with confidence and feeling a lot of confidence with the puck coming off his stick.”

Not to be underestimated during McCann’s goal-scoring binge is his equal ability to set up teammates, including a pair of primary assists on Jordan Eberle’s two goals and another primary “apple” on the power play, feeding Vince Dunn for the defenseman’s first goal since January 9th. McCann can leverage opponents’ awareness of his shoot-first mentality and all those goals in recent weeks.

“I saw the defense kind of coming out hard on me,” said McCann about why he took a pass from Dunn and then sent it right back. “Dunner and I have talked about him shooting a little bit, which is gonna open me up ... I keep harping on him to shoot the puck so I’m kinda glad he did.”

Two: Goaltending Trends Up

Philipp Grubauer has now started twice since coming off the injured reserve list on Jan. 23. He’s delivered two wins, surrendering just three goals on 51 shots and headlining a victory on Long Island after the Kraken had dropped the first two games of the post-bye week road trip. Dave Hakstol commended Grubauer’s work Thursday, noting he didn’t “get a whole lot of work” with just 12 shots on goal in the first two periods, though four were Grade-A chances. Hakstol’s comments didn’t offer whether Grubauer gets back-to-back starts or Joey Daccord returns to the net he has so ably handled since early December. But the head coach did express both confidence in his two goalies and the need for both.

“He gave us a really good, solid performance,” said Hakstol about Grubauer’s night. “It gives confidence to everybody in the room and everybody on the bench. The tandem that he and Joey are providing has been really important and it's going to continue to be very important regardless of the number of starts. It doesn't matter the number of starts from here on and who gets whatever number of starts. Every game is equally as important and their impact is very important.”

Three: Know the Foe: Minnesota

Like the Kraken, the Wild beat Vancouver as part of the Canucks’ current four-game losing streak. Minnesota, down 5-2 after two periods, rallied with seven goals in the final period for a 10-7 victory (no, it was not the NFL Vikings and CFL B.C. Lions). When the season started, Minnesota fans would likely have been disappointed with the Wild’s current status of battling for a Western Conference wild-card spot and currently No. 4 in the wild-card standings, one ahead of the Kraken and two points behind division rival St. Louis, which is the second wild-card spot after Friday's action. But after a horrendous 5-11-4 start to the season, the Wild faithful is probably glad to be talking about the postseason probabilities at all. Minnesota beat Edmonton Friday night by a score of 4-2.

The Wild can score goals, especially the top line of Joel Eriksson Ek (28 goals, 25 assists) centering leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov (24 G, 36 A) and 22-year-old Matt Boldy (22 G, 24 A). But goalies Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury are both sub-.900 for save percentage on the season. Tired or not from facing the high-flying Oilers Friday night, expect a motivated Minnesota squad for Saturday’s puck drop. Best case for both teams is win in regulation, not allowing the other that one point for making it to overtime.