The Minnesota Wild finished up their recent road trip on Thursday night, Jan. 8, against the Seattle Kraken. They’d had a couple of tough losses against the Los Angeles Kings earlier in the week and looked to finish the road trip on a good note with a win. They had almost their full line-up as Zach Bogosian was out, but Daemon Hunt returned after being injured for the past 10 games.
The game started out with the Wild in the lead and had a two-goal lead going into the third. Although they tried to hold them off, the Kraken stormed back in the third period to tie the game 2-2 and forced overtime. The Wild came out with the win, and in this article, we’ll look at how they did it, starting with their hero of overtime.
Wild’s Zuccarello Hero of Overtime
Mats Zuccarello has had quite the season with a couple of injuries that have caused him to miss nearly half the season. However, since he’s been back in the lineup, he’s been helping produce for the team, not necessarily in goals but assists, until their game against the Kraken, where he came up with the game-winner.
Earlier in the season, the Kraken were the reason for his most recent injury after a big hit by Vince Dunn. Instead of trying to get revenge in physicality in their next meeting, the Wild responded on the scoreboard. Of course, it looked like they may be thwarted as they had to go to overtime to get it done, but they still won.
Zuccarello had a strong effort throughout the game, and right before he scored his goal, he had an impressive pick that almost turned into a chance for him. However, just a little bit later, he got his chance on a pass from his linemate Kirill Kaprizov, and he scored to give his team the win to go home on a high note.
Wild’s Faber on a Streak
Brock Faber has always been a strong player for the Wild, but at the beginning of this season, he had his fair share of struggles. He had started to climb his way out as the season went on, but once he was paired with Quinn Hughes, his game really took off. Again, he’s a strong player no matter who he’s paired with, but now he’s truly showing what he’s capable of.
He’s taking more shots, and he showcased that against the Kraken as he scored a goal off a strong shot from the point. He continued to throw shots at the net and nearly had another one in the third period. Being paired with Hughes has forced Faber to elevate his game to another level that everyone knew he had; he just needed someone who played to his level.
His other defensive partners are great, but they didn’t play the same way Faber did until Hughes came along. They play a similar fast-paced, heads-up style, and it continued to show in their game against the Kraken. He stepped up one more time in overtime with a huge block that set up the Wild to go the other way and score to win the game.
Wild’s Struggle in Third
They had a solid first two periods that saw some chances for the Kraken, but had a zero on their side of the scoreboard. When the third period rolled around, the Kraken found a way to get one past Jesper Wallstedt with a chaotic sequence of shots that got them in the game. Then the Kraken responded again later in the period with a goal on the power play to tie the game 2-2.
The Wild struggled to keep their composure and made more mistakes than they had earlier in the game. The Kraken found their momentum, and the Wild had to dig deep to keep them from scoring a third time and taking the lead before regulation ended. It was the end of a seven-game road trip over the course of two weeks, so the Wild did look a little fatigued, but they found a way to survive and at least get a point. Until overtime, when they came out with the win.
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They’ll have to figure out what went wrong in the third period that allowed the Kraken to climb in, other than the possible fatigue, and make sure it’s fixed when they come back home. They may have gotten the win in overtime, but if they’d been tighter in the third, they wouldn’t have been stuck heading to the extra frame.
Hopefully, the Wild can keep their winning going now that they’ll have a few home games in a row after being on the road for so long. They’ll have a tough test as they host the New York Islanders on Saturday, Jan. 10, and as long as they play as they did through the first two periods against the Kraken, they’ll come out with the win.
