Wild end marathon roadie in style, beating Seattle in OT
To cap a road trip that seemed like it would never end, the Minnesota Wild found a sudden and spectacular way to finish.
Mats Zuccarello’s overtime goal, after a set-up pass from Kirill Kaprizov, lifted the Wild to a 3-2 win over the Kraken in Seattle on Thursday night.
With the victory, they finished their seven-game road trip with a 4-1-2 mark, getting at least a point in all but one game.
Ryan Hartman and Brock Faber had first period goals for the Wild, who got 26 saves from Jesper Wallstedt to cool off the red-hot Kraken.
Seattle is now 8-0-2 in its last 10. The Wild out-shot Seattle 4-0 in overtime to win for the seventh time in a row when visiting the Kraken. With two assists in the game, Kaprizov now has reached the 50-point mark for the sixth time in his career.
Minnesota was held scoreless on its first power play, and was out-shot in the opening 20 minutes, but still emerged with a two-goal lead via two shots through traffic that found their mark.
Hartman got it going five minutes into the game when Kaprizov carried the puck into the zone, only to have it knocked off his stick. But the Kraken were slow to pounce on the takeaway, giving Hartman time to send a shot from distance past the Seattle goalie. It was the second consecutive game with a goal for Hartman.
Late in the first, Faber doubled the lead, completing a crisp passing play among the Wild’s other two Team USA Olympians. Passes from Matt Boldy and Quinn Hughes set up Faber for a long shot into the net’s top left corner. It was the 10th goal of the season for Faber, tying his career high.
Late in the first, Hartman clipped former Gophers captain Ben Meyers in the Seattle offensive zone, and was whistled for tripping. But Minnesota’s penalty killers, ranked atop the NHL when playing on the road, held the Kraken harmless.
The second period was all Minnesota early, with the Wild out-shooting Seattle 7-1 at one point, and coming perilously close to a three-goal lead. The the Kraken turned the tables in the final few minutes of the middle frame, forcing Wallstedt into the fight where he stopped everything thrown his way.
The third period began without second-line center Joel Eriksson Ek on the visitors bench, and the Wild juggled lines to account for his absence. With Minnesota looking disjointed in its own zone, the Kraken took advantage and cut the lead in half when Adam Larsson zipped a low shot from the top of the right circle.
Then the Wild ran into penalty trouble, with back-to-back trips to the penalty box. They killed the first one, but could not kill both, and the Kraken forged a tie near the midway point of the third.
Phillip Grubauer had 31 saves for Seattle. The Kraken will complete their season series with the Wild on April 7 with Seattle’s lone visit to St. Paul.
After completing their longest road trip of the season, and longest in franchise history in terms of most consecutive days away from home, the Wild are flying east to enjoy the comforts of home. They will play their next three at Grand Casino Arena, starting Saturday evening with a 7 p.m. opening faceoff versus the New York Islanders.
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