Canucks (13-6-1) at Kraken (8-8-5) | 7 p.m.

One: ‘Turbo’ Effect

Brandon Tanev earned the Davy Jones hat Wednesday night in the handoff of the Kraken players’ celebratory prop after victories. The custom “Pirates of the Caribbean” chapeau (thanks to minority owner Jerry Bruckheimer) is awarded to the player who contributes to the win beyond the scoreboard.

Tanev scored the first of Seattle’s seven goals (nice symmetry with the city’s seven hills, though let’s talk sometime about whether we have more hills than that or if the current seven is different than the original seven). In the second minute, he put on a shootout move (hmmmm) after the Kraken turned a Sharks attack (sorry) into a scoring chance via Jamie Oleksiak moving a net-front scramble puck to Alex Wennberg, who spotted Tanev. The veteran winger took it high gear, whirring past San Jose defensemen Kyle Burroughs and Jan Rutta for the score.

Tanev later squared off with Burroughs, landing several haymakers to raucous noise before the contestants were dismissed for the rest of the period, each doled out five minutes for fighting.

Post-game, Dave Hakstol pointed out his usual appreciative remarks about Tanev when asked about the high-energy forward’s recent return to the lineup after a knee injury opening night put him on the shelf. Then Hakstol leaned into what is perhaps most impactful about Tanev’s return. While Tanev has played on several line combinations, his recent slot alongside Alex Wennberg and usually the always dependable/productive/standup Jaden Schwartz coincides with Wennberg’s rise in goals, assists, and scoring chances totals. Tanev’s pace of play (one big reason why he’s a fan-favorite) is rapid and pretty much riveted to that gear.

“You know exactly what what [Tanev] brings every game,” said Hakstol. “He brings intensity, he brings pace. That might be a bit of an odd look on the line chart. But when he’s on the right side there [with Wennberg at center], it’s a good fit because he brings that pace. He gets you up, he gets into the offensive zone.”

Two: Queued Up at the Quarter Mark

Ok, yes, it’s early but let’s use the 2023-24 quarter mark to take a side glance at the Western Conference standings. Hockey pundits espouse a theory that if your team is one of the top eight teams in the conference by American Thanksgiving (many of those pundits are Canadian), then your squad is highly likely to qualify for the postseason. With exactly 25 percent of games played, Seattle sits in the second wild-card spot as the eighth and final team to qualify.

But there is a catch. Anaheim and Arizona are tied for ninth place at 18 points, both with two games in hand. Calgary has 17 points with two games in hand.

That said, Seattle is on the upswing with standings points in five of the last seven games while Anaheim and Arizona are on losing streaks. The Kraken have the opportunity with Friday’s game to gain seven standings points in the to-be-completed four-game week against Pacific Division foes. Beating the Canucks for the second time in one week would move Seattle to within four points of Vancouver when the margin was double-digits last weekend.

Three: Know the Foe: Canucks Have Lost Three of Four

Vancouver is 13-6-1 for 27 standings points in 20 games but has slowed down a bit in the Pacific race, even if young defenseman star Quinn Hughes (31 points in 20 games) still leads the NHL in points while teammate J.T. Miller has 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists). The Canucks have lost three of their last four games (coach Rick Tocchet says opponents are getting too many slot shots) and now embark on back-to-back that starts with Seattle and, perhaps, a soft landing in San Jose. While the Kraken have managed to limit penalties over the first two games, it’s good to know the VAN power play has geared down a bit too: It’s scoreless in the last 10 attempts over four games.