Second: More Mo-TourISM in defense

How good was Brandon Montour against Calgary the other day? Well, Montour not only assisted on Jordan Eberle’s game-winning goal, but he also spent 26:02 minutes on the ice – more than any other player on either team and almost six minutes more than any other Kraken defenseman.

Montour was on the ice, on the ice, traveling to all four corners of the rink. His power play time of 6:23 tied Eberle for the most of any player on either team, and his six shots on the night tied the Flames’ Nazem Kadri for the game’s highest total.

And with top defenseman Vince Dunn being placed on Long Term Injured Reserve for the Kraken, a repeat of Montour here certainly wouldn’t hurt. In Dunn’s absence, the Kraken called up defenseman Cale Fleury, who scored a natural hat trick in Coachella Valley’s first win of the season on Friday night.

Third, know your opponent

What’s wrong with the avalanche? Well, two wins in a row have eased the worries of a 0-4-0 start in which they scored a whopping 25 goals. But those wins came against the underwhelming Anaheim Ducks – after trailing by two goals – and the San Jose Sharks, so the question of whether the patient is cured of his ailments is still up for debate.

Colorado goaltender Aleksandar Georgiev was terrible: He posted a save percentage of .811 and a goals-against average of 4.99 while allowing a league-worst 9.9 more goals than was “expected” based on shot quality, according to MoneyPuck . We should also note that the Avs were without Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, Jonathan Drouin, Devon Toews and, once again, captain Gabriel Landeskog with this chronic knee condition. All in all, this is not the same group as in years past. At least not yet.