Game Recap: Wild 3, Kraken 0

SEATTLE -- The Minnesota Wild (10-12-4) recovered from its two-game skid with a win over the Seattle Kraken (8-14-7) who continue to skid, losing its eighth consecutive game. Forwards Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek scored in the win.

In his first career game against the Kraken, G Filip Gustavsson stopped all 24 shots faced to earn his second shutout of the season.

First Period

With a quick move around Seattle G Joey Daccord at 7:14, Boldy gave the Wild a 1-0 lead. He was assisted on the play by F Kirill Kaprizov.

D Alex Goligoski was sent to the box at 8:25 for holding. The Kraken recorded four shots on goal, one that rang off the post, but were unsuccessful on the power play. 

The Kraken looked to score a goal at 4:09 but the play was whistled dead while the puck was in the pads of Gustavsson. 

F Brandon Duhaime was called for holding at 16:31. Minnesota's penalty kill moved to 2/2 on the night. 

The Kraken outshot the Wild 10-7 and the end of the first.

Second Period

Minnesota got its first power play opportunity of the night when D Jamie Oleksiak tripped Eriksson Ek on what would have been a breakaway at 4:34. The Wild had five shots on the power play, three of which were blocked and two of which were on goal, but were unable to score. 

A big hit from D Zach Bogosian on F Jordan Eberle at 2:43 created quite a scuffle behind the Wild net, but no disciplinary action was taken on either side. Bogosian returned to the lineup tonight from an upper-body injury that had him out for three games. 

Though the Wild outshot the Kraken 8-7 in the second, Seattle maintained a two-period edge 16-14 SOG. 

With no scoring in the middle frame, the Wild maintained a 1-0 lead.

Third Period

The third period started with a Kraken power play at 00:26 when Eriksson Ek was called for holding. Allowing Seattle only two SOG, Minnesota killed off its third penalty.

Minnesota's second power play opportunity of the night came on a high-sticking minor called against D Vince Dunn at 5:58. There was no score on the PP despite four SOG.

Rossi furthered the Wild lead, 2-0, at 12:35 with a wrist shot past Daccord down low. Rossi's ninth goal of the season was assisted by F Mats Zuccarello.

Seattle pulled Daccord for a 6-on-5 opportunity which Eriksson Ek capitalized on with 3.9 seconds remaining, 3-0 Wild. The goal (ENG) was his 14th goal of the season. 

Minnesota pulled ahead in SOG by the end of the game, 26-24. The Wild PP went 0-2 but the PK went 3/3.

What Else?

• With his first period goal, Boldy now owns seven points in his last five games (5-2=7).
• With tonight’s shutout win, Gustavsson is now 4-1-0 in his last five starts with a 1.21 GAA and a .951 SV%.
  • Per NHL Stats, Gustavsson earned his fifth shutout since the start of the 2022-23 season. Only four goaltenders have more over that span: Ilya Sorokin (8), Alexandar Georgiev (6), Jeremy Swayman (6) and Jake Oettinger (6).
• With his second period goal tonight, Rossi is now tied for second among NHL rookies in points (9-7=16)
• Minnesota (24 points) earned 4/8 points on the Pacific Division road trip and is now three points behind St. Louis

What'd They Say?

“Huge way to end the road trip. We were right in the other games but it was good to get that win and go back home with that good, winning feeling.” – Bogosian on the team’s mental state after the win

“Sometimes you have to do a little tweaking and just freshen up everything. I think that helped us a lot today and we showed a lot of character today to win this game.” – Rossi on his new line combination with Johansson and Zuccarello

“I liked that we got tested the last two games. We talked to our team to play [faster] and more direct; I thought we did a good job of that. Our puck management, we were able to get on the attack. We generated some really quality looks.” – Coach on what he liked about his team’s battle this evening

What's Next?

The Minnesota Wild will play a brief two-game homestand against recent opponents in the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks. The Wild will host the Flames on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. CT and the Flames on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 1:00 p.m.