Gustavsson stops 24 in shutout, Wild hand Kraken 8th straight loss

SEATTLE -- Filip Gustavsson made 24 saves, and the Minnesota Wild handed the Seattle Kraken their eighth straight loss with a 3-0 win at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday.

It was Gustavsson’s second shutout of the season and fifth in the NHL.

Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek scored for the Wild (10-12-4), who had lost two straight but responded to win for the fifth time in seven games since John Hynes took over as head coach on Nov. 27.

“I think we got tested in the last two games (against the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers),” Hynes said. “We talked to the team about playing more fast and direct, and I thought we did a good job of that. With our puck management, we were able to get on the attack and generated some really quality looks. Defensively, we were pretty tight 5-on-5.”

Minnesota went 2-0-2 on its four-game road trip.

“[To go] .500 on the road, you’re always happy with .500 on the road,” Gustavsson said. “And if you’re better than that, that’s extra.”

Joey Daccord made 23 saves for the Kraken (8-14-7), who were shut out for the second time during their eight-game skid (0-6-2). 

"We weren't able to capitalize on some outstanding opportunities on the power play (0-for-3),” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "It felt like that kind of a night against a team that defends really well 5-on-5. So, the opportunities at 5-on-5 are hard to come by.”

Seattle has lost the first three games of its current six-game homestand (0-2-1).

"We're doing a lot of good things, but the puck just doesn't seem to go into the net,” Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson said. “So, we're just going to keep fighting, but yeah, it's not easy right now.”

Boldy gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 7:14 of the first period, receiving a pass from Kirill Kaprizov on a rush, deking to his left, and tucking the puck around Daccord’s right pad.

“We’re playing well and we just have to keep going,” Boldy said. “Obviously, it was a great game tonight. Long road trip and the last one, it’s easy to let one get away from you, but I thought we played well.”

Rossi made it 2-0 at 12:34 of the third period, chipping in a shot after Mats Zuccarello stripped Oliver Bjorkstrand of the puck at the bottom of the right circle.

"Their second goal, we made two mistakes on the breakout,” Hakstol said. “The first one was a mistake, the second one, we were under pressure and turned it over.”

Eriksson Ek scored into an empty net with four seconds remaining for the 3-0 final.