On Thursday, Jan. 8, the Seattle Kraken hosted the Minnesota Wild for their second matchup of the season. The Wild got off to a strong start with two goals in the first period. The Kraken evened the score in the third, sending this game into overtime. It was the Wild who prevailed in the 3-on-3, taking home a 3-2 win.
Game Recap
Early in the first, Kirill Kaprizov got his stick on a loose puck in the Wild’s zone to keep it in. The puck moved slowly through traffic, and Ryan Hartman skated in and picked it up. He fired it into the net exactly five minutes into the game.
Just ten minutes later, Matt Boldy was defended by Vince Dunn in Minnesota’s zone. He sent a backhand pass to Quinn Hughes, who skated it up to the faceoff circle. He dropped it towards the blue line, where Brock Faber picked it up. He skated in closer and ripped a shot to give Minnesota a two-goal lead.
The second period was full of clean hockey, with no penalties taken. It was an even back-and-forth, with the Wild outshooting the Kraken 8-6 and no change in scoring.
Just three minutes into the third period, Dunn took a shot on net, but it ricocheted off the goalpost. The loose puck found Adam Larsson, and he sent a slap shot home, bringing the Kraken within one.
Five minutes later, Yakov Trenin took a seat for elbowing Berkly Catton. On the power-play opportunity, Jared McCann took a shot, but it went wide. The Kraken picked up the rebound and reset the play. Dunn had the puck at the blue line and passed it up to McCann. His shot was, once again, stopped by Jesper Wallstedt. Matty Beniers was right in front, though, and picked up the rebound. With his shot, he tied the game.
Two minutes into the 3-on-3, Ryker Evans skated up to Wallstedt with the puck. He tried to take a shot, but Faber broke up his chance, stealing the puck from him. Kaprizov picked up the loose puck and made a break for the net with Mats Zuccarello. On a 2-on-1, he passed the puck to Zuccarello and elevated it into the top corner of the net to win the game for Minnesota.
The Wild outshot the Kraken 4-0 in just two minutes in overtime.
Next Up
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 10. The Wild will return home to host the New York Islanders while the Kraken will head to the East Coast and take on the Carolina Hurricanes.
