Wild Warmup: Minnesota at Seattle

The essentials

The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
SEATTLE -- The Wild will try and finish up a winning road trip on Saturday night when it becomes the first opponent to play two games at Climate Pledge Arena against the Seattle Kraken.
Minnesota dropped a 4-1 decision here on Oct. 28, a final margin that is a bit deceiving. Seattle led by just one goal until the final minute of regulation, when it got empty-net goals from Brandon Tanev and Mark Giodano.
Still, the Wild was not pleased with its overall effort in that game.
Minnesota got off to a strong start, getting a goal from Ryan Hartman 6:27 into the game to take a 1-0 lead. That was the high-water mark for the Wild, which was outplayed for much of the next half a game.
Haydn Fleury scored late in the first, then 7 1/2 minutes into the second period to provide the Kraken with all the offense it would need.
Minnesota is coming off a 3-2 loss in Las Vegas on Thursday, a defeat which snapped a four-game winning streak entering the contest, and was just the second loss since Minnesota's trip to Seattle more than two weeks ago.
The Golden Knights opened up a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes - including two in the opening period - but watched the Wild rally on goals by Jared Spurgeon and Hartman to climb within a goal with more than five minutes remaining. Minnesota had a late power play, but never really threatened to even the score.
"We felt that, the end of the second, or the middle of the second, we got our legs were coming back to us and we felt a little bit more confident," said Wild forward Marcus Foligno. "I think in the third, we kept doing what we were doing. Obviously a little bit more desperation, but I think that we had our legs, but our mindset was just a lot better.
"Just our start was not good. Two goals right away in the first period and that stings."
The Wild finished the night 0-for-6 on the power play after scoring twice on the man advantage the night before in a win at Arizona.
"Our power play obviously has to score," Evason said. "But it took us away from our 5-on-5 game. We were rolling with the lines and we just kept going with it and gained that momentum. That's how we have to play the game.
"But we also have to figure out that when that happens, we have to stay in hockey games and/or clearly, score on the power play."
The last time these clubs played, the Wild was playing a bit shorthanded. Neither Mats Zuccarello nor Rem Pitlick played in the game after testing positive for COVID-19 the day prior following a win in Vancouver.
Despite missing four games, Zuccarello is tied for second on the club with nine points. Pitlick has two assists in four games this season.
Minnesota had the day off Friday in Seattle, but made one roster move, re-assigning forward Kyle Rau to Iowa of the American Hockey League. Rau had been a healthy scratch in each of the past three games and is scoreless in three games with the NHL club this season.
The Wild still has one extra forward on the roster, and returns to Minnesota Sunday ahead of a quick two-game homestand that commences Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks at Xcel Energy Center.
Seattle has won just once since defeating the Wild 16 days ago, having lost five of six overall entering the game Saturday, which marks the second of a six-game homestand at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Kraken are coming off a 7-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, a game where Jared McCann returned from a 10-day absence on the COVID-19 list to score a pair of goals.
Armed with a boatload of quality defensemen and a goaltender who was a Vezina Trophy finalist for the Colorado Avalanche last season, Seattle's recent struggles have come in spite of all that. The Kraken have allowed at least four goals in three-straight games and in four of their past five overall.
The one time they didn't this month? A 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 4.
Not surprisingly, the Kraken are 4-2 when allowing three goals or fewer, and have yet to win a single game when allowing four goals or more (0-8-0).
By contrast, Minnesota has three such victories this season.
Jordan Eberle leads Seattle offensively with eight goals and 11 points in 14 games. Jaden Schwartz is the only other player in double digits with 10 points, including seven assists. McCann has played in just nine games, but has five goals and is averaging a point-per-game on the year.
Philipp Grubauer is 4-6-1 with a 3.17 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage in 11 games - all starts - this season. He made 30 saves on 31 shots in the win over Minnesota in October.
The game Saturday marks the final game between the clubs until their first meeting in St. Paul on April 22.
Related:
- Seattle return gives Pitlick a chance to re-connect with environment - Inside Climate Pledge Arena, the NHL's building of the future