Kraken (26-23-11) at Flames (30-25-5) | 6:30 p.m.

One: Blueprint for the Road Trip

The Kraken head into a packed weekday schedule nine points out of a Western Conference wild-card spot and facing a pair of teams, Calgary (7-3) and Winnipeg (8-2), that have been hot over the last 10 games. Seattle checks in at 5-4-1 and has played 60 games. It’s tempting for fans to chart out the remaining 22 games and what points are needed to qualify for the postseason. Coach Dave Hakstol has emphasized breaking the NHL season into five-game segments to stay focused on the pending tasks at hand and not look too far ahead (though the sixth upcoming game is Nashville at Climate Pledge Arena, just FYI). And this week’s hunt for standings points is definitely enough to consider (plus Vegas at home next Tuesday).

The quest for standings points will continue Monday against division rival Calgary but without center Alex Wennberg in the lineup. When queried about Wennberg’s absence after the Kraken’s morning skate, Hakstol replied, “Trade-related issues and will not be available tonight.”

For Hakstol, Saturday’s ultimately disappointing loss to a loaded Edmonton squad and a hot goaltender provides a decent blueprint for how to play this week in a tough back-to-back road trek to Calgary and Winnipeg, then back home to face the Jets again Thursday. Attack the offensive zone like Saturday and this week can bring results.

“We found enough quality [scoring] opportunities,” said a calm Hakstol Saturday afternoon post-game. “What it really comes down to, [Edmonton] is a hard team to generate offensive zone time. But we were able to do that. We were effective in getting the puck into their zone and it was one of the areas we were, you know, we didn't like in our game two nights ago [Thursday’s 2-0 shutout of Pittsburgh], especially in the first half of the game. We didn't we didn't come up with enough of those first pucks, plays on that first touch. [Saturday] we did enough of that and generated some good opportunities from the inside. We did it in different ways [once in the offensive zone].”

Two: Goalie Tandem Tantamount Down Stretch

Philipp Grubauer played well enough to win his fourth start Saturday, an opinion seconded by Hakstol. The Kraken goalie tandem of Grubauer and Joey Daccord will most likely be tested with back-to-back must-win-type games to start the week. Daccord will be looking for a bounce-back outing after a rough go against Minnesota on the homestand.

Fans need not look much further than playoff-bound Boston to see how a tandem can lift a team on the ice and in the locker room. Both Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have delivered quality starts for the Bruins this season, a feat they pulled off last year too. The Boston goalies practically alternate starts during the regular season while another thriving tandem, Adin Hill and Logan Thompson for Vegas, tend to earn their consecutive starts in net.

Daccord worked extra practice time this past week to stay sharp and during a recent conversation expressed total confidence in repeating his 2023-24 successes and upward trends when his name is next posted on the whiteboard.

Three: Know The Foe: Calgary Riding Five-Game Win Streak

Kraken players have voiced the firm perspective that every game is a playoff game now. Monday in Calgary is no exception with the Flames in the wild-card mix even as stellar defenseman and Brandon Tanev, sibling Chris, was traded to Dallas last week. Calgary is on a five-game winning streak and have earned 18 of a possible 24 standings points in the team’s last dozen games. They have nine come-from-behind-trailing-after-two-period victories, so no Seattle lead will be comfortable until the final horn sounds. Center Nazem Kadri ignited the latest final-period comeback with a goal-of-the-year score Saturday at home against Pittsburgh and leads the Flames in scoring. Jacob Markstrom has righted his uneven play from last season to be a big reason why Calgary is still thinking wild-card; he will start Monday against the Kraken.