Kraken (19-16-9) at Oilers (24-15-1) | 6:00 p.m.

One: Closing Gaps of Time and Space Against Oilers Stars

Jared McCann has proven his stature as a leading goal scorer for Seattle, hitting the 40-mark last season and notching his 17^th goal in Tuesday’s loss in New York. But there is equally no denying McCann’s willingness to handle his defensive assignments, which have increased with him moving into the center position between Jorden Eberle and Tomas Tatar.

Make no mistake: One of the major reasons why GM Ron Francis negotiated with McCann in March of the inaugural season to be the first player in franchise history to re-sign with the team is his willingness to play a 200-foot game. It shows in small but vital plays he makes, such as retrieving pucks in the offensive zone, takeaways to create an odd-man rush in the neutral zone, and blocking shots among other duties at the Kraken end (in which he will go deeper as a center compared to the wings). Another piece of evidence is McCann’s status as one of the squad’s primary penalty killers.

So McCann is the right guy to inform Kraken fans on how to not only halt division rival Edmonton’s 11-game win streak but slow down stars Connor McDavid (16 goals, a whopping 42 assists) and Leon Draisaitl (21 G, 25 A). He emphasized Kraken centers and wings must do their part as defenders.

“We're gonna need to have better gaps as forwards [than Tuesday’s 5-2 defeat against the New York Rangers],” said McCann post-game. “You can’t give McDavid and Draisaitl time and space throughout the pocket. Even [Artemi] Panarin tonight kind of skated through us a little bit too easily [especially noticeable on the opening goal]. We need to clean that up, focus on it.”

Two: Evans to the Rescue on Top Defensive Pair

During his pre-game media scrum, coach Dave Hakstol said Vince Dunn will not play Thursday (he did not participate in the team’s morning skate). The Kraken co-leading scorer has missed the last two games, which, perhaps not altogether a coincidence, were losses with no 5-on-5 or even strength goals. Hakstol said other lineup decisions, including whether Andre Burakovsky returns, will be game-time decisions.

When the Kraken called up rookie Ryker Evans to be part of the traveling party for this long road trip, it turned out to be genius as Evans stepped right into the top-pair minutes alongside Adam Larsson (and even more shifts when Larsson didn’t return to play the second and third periods in Pittsburgh due to illness). Evans held his own and then some in what were his 10^th and 11^th NHL appearances, nearly scoring his first NHL goals on at least two shots that required big saves by opposing goalies. The 2021 second-rounder

Three: Know the Foe: Oilers 21-6-0 Under New Coach

Edmonton’s turnaround no doubt has fans in Alberta thinking this squad will win the first Stanley Cup for a Canadian franchise since Montreal did so three decades ago. Kris Knoblauch, a former Dave Hakstol assistant in Philadelphia, has masterminded the turnaround from an early season that prompted the firing of Jay Woodcroft. Knowledgeable fans might also be thinking, hmmm, Kraken AHL affiliate Coachella Valley coach Dan Bylsma similarly took over a star-studded Pittsburgh Penguins team midseason in 2008-09, going 18-3-4 the rest of the regular season (including a 10-1 March with just one home loss) before claiming the Stanley Cup in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final (reversing the outcome of the same two teams in the 2008 Final). Of course, the aforementioned McDavid and Draisaitl, are big reasons for the 11-game win streak, same for leading goal scorer Zach Hyman (26) and power play quarterback and defenseman Evan Bouchard – both players are averaging a point per game. Young goalie Stuart Skinner, the clear No. 1 after Jack Campbell was assigned to the AHL, is 19-9-1 on the year with a .908 save percentage with 21 of 27 possible starts with Knoblauch behind the bench.