Pluses, minuses for Rangers-Red Wings; Golden Knights-Kraken

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his pluses and minuses for big games each week throughout the season.

The New York Rangers (43-19-5) play the Detroit Red Wings (26-32-8) at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, NHL LIVE).
Then the Vegas Golden Knights (36-28-4) face the Seattle Kraken (21-39-6) at Climate Pledge Arena (10 p.m. ET; TNT, NHL LIVE).
Here's my breakdown of the games.

Rangers

Pluses: They're coming off a big win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 on Tuesday. Forwards Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider and defenseman Adam Fox are having big seasons offensively. Goalie Igor Shesterkin is a candidate for the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in the NHL and the Hart Trophy as most valuable player, and backup Alexandar Georgiev has played well recently when given the chance. Defenseman K'Andre Miller is having a great season. He and Jacob Trouba have been a nice defense pair.
Minuses: They need to have the same level of intensity against the Red Wings that they had against the Penguins. They lost to the Red Wings earlier this season as well as the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils recently, teams below them in the standings. Also, the Rangers could be without forward Ryan Strome, who is day to day with a lower-body injury. He didn't play Tuesday.

Red Wings

Pluses: Forward Lucas Raymond (49 points) and defenseman Moritz Seider (42 points) have been two of the best rookies in the NHL this season, ranking in the top four in scoring. Forwards Dylan Larkin (28 goals, 62 points) and Tyler Bertuzzi (25 goals, 53 points) also have shown why they are important pieces for Detroit's core. They'll likely miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth straight season but have definitely improved this season.
Minuses: They lost 11-2 to the Penguins on Sunday, haven't won two games in a row since Feb. 9-12 and are 3-10-2 in their past 15 games. Special teams has been a problem: the Red Wings are last in the NHL in penalty-killing percentage (72.4 percent) and 27th in power-play percentage (17.4 percent).

Golden Knights

Pluses: Evgenii Dadonov may have saved their season after they almost traded the forward. He scored in overtime in a 5-4 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, has goals in four straight games and eight points (five goals, three assists) in four games. They've won two in a row and must win this game. Vegas plays at Seattle Wednesday and Friday and can't afford to lose these points. They've played more games than anyone chasing them or ahead of them in the race for one of the wild cards into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference.
Minuses: They could fail to make the playoffs for the first time in their five NHL seasons. They're without injured forwards Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Reilly Smith and goalie Robin Lehner, all of whom are key pieces. I don't feel like the intensity level and sense of urgency have been there recently. This is something they haven't experienced before during the regular season, having had a fairly easy time qualifying for the playoffs.

Kraken

Pluses: Forwards Jared McCann, Yanni Gourde and Jordan Eberle are their top three scorers and three of the veterans on the team. They've been good leaders on and off the ice in the Kraken's first season. Seattle traded several players, including defensemanMark Giordano, prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on March 21 and has 25 picks in the NHL Draft the next two years. That sets them up nicely for the future.
Minuses: After seeing what Vegas did during its first season, perhaps the expectation was too high for Seattle in its first season. The Kraken play in a competitive division but haven't won more than two consecutive games all season and have had five streaks of at least four straight losses. They're 29th on the power play (15.0 percent) and 30th on the penalty kill (73.3 percent). It's not what fans want to hear but this is how most expansion teams fare in their first seasons.