1: Continue to activate the top line – The top line of Matty Beniers, Jordan Hebert and Jared McCann has improved considerably down the stretch in the five games they have returned as a trio. Benier has scored 10 goals this month, McCann has nine and Hebert has five.

However, in five games since his return, McCann has five goals and four assists, earning him nine points. Beniels has 6 points with 4 goals and 2 assists, while Eberle has 6 points with 2 goals and 4 assists.

This is what the top line should look like.

And as the top line progresses, other lines below it tend to follow. Shane Wright scored two goals from the third line against Toronto, and Jaden Schwartz had an assist. This line from Kaapo Kakko needed a bit of a breakout.

A Kraken team that had struggled all season, not even scoring three goals per game, was suddenly scoring at least four goals in four of their last five contests. By the way, all games in which four or more goals were scored were wins.

There will be a line shuffle for the Las Vegas game after the Kraken announced that Barkley Catton will miss the three games on the road due to an upper-body injury. Ryan Winterton is expected to move up to the second line, with Ty Karate returning to the fourth line.

2: Keep removing “goals” from goaltending – With Philipp Grubauer playing crazy, Joey Daccord being the first off the ice at Saturday morning’s skate and expected to start against the Golden Knights, and seemingly shaking off a bit of a mid-season slump, what can you say about this development of netminding by the Kraken? Regardless of who was in goal, the Kraken were horribly stingy between the pipes. They conceded just 10 points in five games during their four-game winning streak, but even that is somewhat deceptive since four of those goals came in their lone game against Anaheim.

Daccord has allowed two goals in each of his last two games, something he displayed before suffering a bit of a slump in January, when he allowed three or more goals in five straight starts.

Grubauer, on the other hand, has allowed more than three goals just once in his past 11 games. He allowed two or fewer goals in seven of 11 games, but only one goal in six (!!!) of those games. If a goalie only concedes one goal, he doesn’t lose much. Unsurprisingly, Grubauer won all six of them. They even won a game in which they conceded two goals.

You can see where this is going. If the goaltending and defense give up three or fewer points, and the offense continues to score at least three, maybe four, maybe even five points, the wins will pile up.

3: Know your enemy – When McCann scored the game-winning goal in overtime to beat the Golden Knights 2-1 in the second game of the season at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday night, you could have sensed this season might be different. Hey, there’s an example of a goaltender conceding just one goal – Daccord that night – that really helped. Two people couldn’t have won that game. Where were we anyway? Yes, it’s a “different” season. As you know, the Kraken doesn’t fit very well with the Golden Knights for some reason. Size probably has a lot to do with Vegas, as he dumps the puck into the net and crashes the bigger-bodied netminder. They also have some very talented players, led by points leader Jack Eichel, 61, and last summer’s free agent megastar Mitch Marner, 54, right behind him.

The Kraken played closely against Las Vegas. However, the Crows didn’t cut it, as the Kraken are just 4-11-1 when playing against division foes. They have also won only once at T-Mobile Arena. Remember, this was where they played for the first time in franchise history, and current Kraken centerman Chandler Stephenson took a kick late in the final period, used his game-winning skate to send the puck legally into the net, and lost. At least, that’s what the verdict turned out to be.

Stevenson is currently here with the Kraken, piling up points and ranking third on the team with 32. So if at any time you want him to start putting pucks into the Las Vegas net using his stick, skates, body parts, etc., feel free to tell him.

The Golden Knights are on a bit of a downhill trajectory. They won seven straight games earlier this month and acquired Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson in a trade on Jan. 18. But they have won five of six since then, even though they picked up points from their last two games, which they lost in overtime and penalties. They currently lead the NHL with 14 games over regulation. Still, their rise has allowed the Kraken to move closer to the division leaders in the standings than perhaps thought possible late in the season.

If the Kraken win this game, they will be only three points behind the Golden Knights. Now, let’s get to the main topic.

Expected lineup (not official):
McCann – Benières – Hebert
Tolvanen-Stevenson-Winterton
Schwartz – Wright – Parentheses
Carty – Gaudreau – Melancon

Dan – Larsson
Oleksiak – Montour
Lindgren-Evans

Daccord