On Thursday, Jan. 8, the Seattle Kraken will host the Minnesota Wild. The Kraken have extended their win streak to four games after they just beat the Boston Bruins 7-4. They’ll look to continue their hot start to 2026 tonight.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Kraken’s 7-4 Win Over the Bruins
The Wild close out a seven-game road trip in Seattle. Their last two games were both against the Los Angeles Kings, and both resulted in losses. So far, they’ve won three of the six on the road and will try to end this game on a high note before they return to Minnesota.
The season series kicked off exactly a month ago, on Dec. 8, in Seattle. The Wild scored three unanswered goals in the final frame to take a 4-1 win. The Kraken will have to win tonight to ensure the Wild don’t win the season series.
Kraken Storylines
Ahead of this game, the Kraken announced they have recalled forward Oscar Fisker Molgaard from the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Molgaard was just named to Denmark’s Olympic team and played in two Kraken games earlier this season, recording one assist. With the Firebirds, he has recorded 18 points in 30 games.
However, there is a significant reason as to why Molgaard was called up. Jordan Eberle was not on the ice for today’s practice while Eeli Tolvanen, who missed Tuesday’s game due to illness, is back in the lineup. Hopefully, there is a status update on Eberle soon, and everything is okay with him. Considering Eberle currently leads the team in points, losing him for a long period of time would be another hard blow to the Kraken this season.
Jaden Schwartz was once again on the ice for practice. However, he was not taking part in line rushes, so he will not be in the lineup for this game. The fact he was in a regular jersey and took part in practice at all are good signs that he is getting close to returning, though.
The player to watch in this game is Kaapo Kakko, who scored two goals and recorded an assist on Tuesday. He is currently on a four-game point streak, recording six points in that span. He has been solid to kick off January; let’s see if that continues.
Team Stats
Seattle Kraken
Season Record: 20-14-7
Top Scorers:
- Jordan Eberle – 15 goals (G), 13 assists (A), 28 points (P)
- Chandler Stephenson – 11 G, 16 A, 27 P
- Matty Beniers – 7 G, 19 A, 26 P
- Eeli Tolvanen – 7 G, 18 A, 25 P
- Vince Dunn – 6 G, 17 A, 23 P
Goalie Stats:
- Joey Daccord – 12-9-5, 2.82 goals-against average (GAA), .903 save percentage (SV%)
- Philipp Grubauer – 8-3-1, 2.21 GAA, .926 SV%
- Matt Murray – 0-2-1, 2.21 GAA, .922 SV%
Minnesota Wild
Season Record: 25-11-8
Top Scorers:
- Kirill Kaprizov – 24 G, 25 A, 29 P
- Matt Boldy – 26 G, 22 A, 48 P
- Quinn Hughes – 3 G, 32 A, 35 P
- Marcus Johansson – 12 G, 20 A, 32 P
- Joel Eriksson Ek – 11 G, 21 A, 32 P
Goalie Stats:
- Filip Gustavsson – 14-9-4, 2.48 GAA, .912 SV%
- Jesper Wallstedt – 11-2-4, 2.30 GAA, .928 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
As per The Hockey Writers’ projected lineup article.
Seattle Kraken
Jared McCann — Matty Beniers — Kaapo Kakko
Eeli Tolvanen — Chandler Stephenson — Frederick Gaudreau
Berkly Catton — Shane Wright — Ryan Winterton
Tye Kartye — Ben Meyers — Jacob Melanson
Vince Dunn — Adam Larsson
Ryan Lindgren — Cale Fleury
Ryker Evans — Jamie Oleksiak
Philipp Grubauer
Joey Daccord
Scratched: Jordan Eberle, Oscar Fisker Molgaard, Josh Mahura
Injured: Jaden Schwartz, Brandon Montour, Matt Murray, Max McCormick
Minnesota Wild
Kirill Kaprizov — Danila Yurov — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Vinnie Hinostroza — Ryan Hartmann — Vladimir Tarasenko
Marcus Foligno — Nico Sturm — Yakov Trenin
Quinn Hughes — Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin — Jared Spurgeon
Jake Middleton — David Jiricek
Jesper Wallstedt
Filip Gustavsson
Scratched: Tyler Pitlick, Matt Kiersted
Injured: Daemon Hunt, Zach Bogosian
Next Up for the Kraken
The Kraken will begin their East Coast road trip on Saturday, Jan. 10, when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes.
