Kraken (30-36-6) vs. Oilers (41-25-5) | 7:00 p.m.

One: Stay out of the penalty box

The Kraken had everything going their way in Calgary the other night when Brandon Montour took a four-minute penalty, and the Kraken surrendered the tying goal with 6:18 to go in regulation. In Edmonton last Saturday, they were down by one in the final two minutes of the second period when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the second Oilers’ power play marker of the night, and the Kraken never caught up.

You get the picture. It’s easy to say a key to any game against the Oilers involves staying out of the box, but there’s a reason. Edmonton entered Wednesday night tied for sixth with Tampa Bay in power play efficiency at 25.7%.

And while they won’t have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in this game – with 15 and 9 goals, respectively on the power play -- that Nugent-Hopkins guy is pretty good. Nugent-Hopkins has the team’s third-best man-advantage goal total with seven – only two behind McDavid. Zach Hyman has six such goals.

Shane Wright has a team-leading seven power play goals for the Kraken and only one other guy, Jaden Schwartz, even has five.

So, while it’s tempting to salivate at another crack at these Oilers minus McDavid and Draisaitl, just remember, start taking penalties and it all goes out the window.

Two: Stop the puck

What’s interesting about the Oilers and their dominance of the Kraken is the sheer amount of goals they’ve scored. Edmonton is 11-2-1 lifetime against the Kraken and has scored at least four goals in all but one of the 11 victories.

That’s incredible coming against a team like the Kraken built largely around depth and defensive structure. You’d expect them to lose games more akin to the 2-1 defeat a year ago this month at Climate Pledge Arena – the lone exception to the goal-scoring bonanzas the Oilers typically enjoy when beating the Kraken.

The Kraken have managed to score three or more goals six times in the series, yet have won only two of those games. In their nine consecutive losses to Edmonton, the Kraken have given up 38 goals – an average of 4.2 per contest. This season’s highest-scoring NHL team, the Washington Capitals, average 3.63 goals per game.

That gives you an indication of just how many goals the Kraken keep allowing to these Edmonton guys.

Joey Daccord is 0-5-1 lifetime against the Oilers with a goals against average of 3.82 and a save percentage of .874. Daccord has given up at least four goals in five of his last nine outings, so Philipp Grubauer could get a look at Edmonton this time around.

Grubauer’s numbers aren’t any better when facing the Oilers other than in “wins” with a 3-5-0 mark – two of those victories coming while with a stacked Colorado team -- a 4.22 goals against average and a save percentage of .847.

So, whoever is in net this time needs to stop some rubber for the Kraken to have a chance.

Three: Know your foe

These games matter for the Oilers, who lost 4-3 as they played potential playoff foe Dallas at home last night on the front-end of back-to-back contests. But the importance of the games isn’t because the Oilers figure they’re going to get very far in the playoffs without McDavid and Draisaitl. No, they matter more because Edmonton needs to prove there’s a championship-level team lurking beneath their two top superstars that’s ready to take the next step.

It's been a down year of sorts for Nugent-Hopkins, whose 48 points are fewer than half his total from two seasons ago. Hyman’s 42 points are just about half his 83 of two seasons ago and well behind last season’s 77.

Nugent-Hopkins in particular has stepped things up in the absence of McDavid and Draisaitl. He has four goals and five assists his last four games – three of those goals against the Kraken last Saturday.

Goaltending is another area of some vulnerability for the Oilers, with projected playoff starter Stuart Skinner going up against Dallas on Wednesday. That means the Kraken will face backup Calvin Pickard on Thursday, looking to beat him for the first time in three tries this season.

Pickard has already beaten them by 4-2 counts twice in January while stopping 42 of 46 shots for a .913 save percentage.