Sharks (18-51-9) at Kraken (33-31-13) | 7:00 p.m.

One: Good with the Goaltending

Head coach Dave Hakstol revealed Wednesday that goalie Joey Daccord has been working through a “nagging issue we wanted to make sure he had a chance to get fully over.” That’s a major reason why Philipp Grubauer has made four straight starts. It didn’t hurt that Grubauer has won three of the four games, including a 39-save shutout over Arizona Tuesday in the penultimate home game of the 2023-24 season.

Hakstol commended his goalie tandem’s work this season: “When one has been injured or down, the other one has been able to pick up that slack and do a good job. They've supported each other very well in that way. We've had a lot of nights where we've given up very little, 20 or less shots, we don't give up a whole lot in terms of opportunities. But that's a challenge for a goaltender to make the big save at the right time. “

Monday was more the exception with Grubauer tested with 19 Grade-A scoring chances on the night, including a dozen in period two. “It was a night when we had a lot of work [for Grubauer], a lot of quality work and he did a great job for his teammates.”

Two: Wright Adding to His Repertoire?

Since being called up from the American Hockey League 10 days ago, centerman Shane Wright has scored four goals in four games – and has pretty much been requested to speak with the media scrum. No surprise, he has the game-winning goals in each of the Kraken’s last three wins. Friday night, it was a three-point night in a 3-1 win and a huge shot block in the third period. Monday, the main driver was Wright, scoring on his first shift just over a minute into what turned out to be a game-winning goal. Wright took a pass from linemate Jordan Eberle (Jaden Schwartz got the secondary assist for setting up the sequence with his usual gritty play), then backhanded it from a “bad angle” near the goal line to beat Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka, who was clearly surprised Wright took the shot.

AP sports reporter Tim Booth wondered if Wright might be adding that to his shot “repertoire”? Or maybe just channeling Eberle’s backhanders?

Wright smiled, then replied: “I mean, I'll take anything I can get. They all count the same on the score sheet. That's what I'm gonna say. I just kind of tried to get on net there and got a lucky bounce for sure. But we'll take it.”

Three: Know the Foe: Sharks Won Once in Last Five Games

The Sharks took a valuable standings point away from Western wild-card contender St. Louis with a 3-2 overtime win three games ago, then dropped back-to-back games against Arizona (a 5-2 loss to a team Seattle trounced 5-0 Tuesday) and lost in OT versus Calgary. They lost a two-goal lead in the Flames game and were outshot 41-22. San Jose is six points behind Chicago, last in both the Western Conference and the league. SJS is 31^st in goals scored and 32^nd in goals allowed. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood has posted a relatively impressive .900 save percentage through it all and likely gets the start Thursday from coach David Quinn, who wasn’t kind to his skaters in recent media remarks.