Kirill Kaprizov netted two goals and an assist, while Mats Zuccarello contributed a career-high four assists, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.
Marcus Johansson, Matt Boldy, and Dakota Mermis also scored for the Wild, who built a 5-1 lead just seven minutes into the second period. Marc-André Fleury made 31 saves as Minnesota improved to 7-1-1 since the All-Star break.
“We’re playing a good style of hockey and we’ve been committed to it for the most part,” said Minnesota coach John Hynes. “I think the belief from the players of playing the game that gives us the best chance to win, recognizing what that is, and then committing to it has been a big difference.”
The Wild have scored 22 goals in their past four games, including a franchise-record 10 against Vancouver on Monday. Kaprizov has six goals and six assists over that stretch, extending his point streak to eight games.
Minnesota moved into a tie with St. Louis at 62 points and remained two points behind Nashville for the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot. Seattle fell three points behind the Wild.
“We need every point we can get,” said Johansson. “And playing the teams that we’re fighting with, obviously, these games mean a little bit more too. It’s kind of one of those four-point games, so it was a big one for us.”
Vince Dunn scored 36 seconds into the game for Seattle, and Jordan Eberle added a goal in the third period. Joey Daccord stopped just nine of 13 shots before being pulled early in the second. Philipp Grubauer stopped 17 of 18 shots the rest of the way.
The Kraken saw their four-game point streak come to an end.
“We should be pretty upset with ourselves,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s moments in the game that are game-changing moments. Two nights ago, we met every one of those moments. Tonight we didn’t meet very many of them.”
Johansson tied it 1-1 at 4:59 of the opening period when his shot from the right circle deflected in off Daccord for his ninth goal of the season.
Kaprizov gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead during a 5-on-3 power play at 13:32 of the first. Kaprizov and Zuccarello exchanged passes twice behind the net before Kaprizov wrapped the puck around the right post for his 25th goal.
Boldy added another power-play goal 1:09 into the second, sending a backhanded shot past Daccord into the top-right corner for a 3-1 lead. It was his 23rd goal of the season and seventh in the past eight games.
Kaprizov scored again just a minute later, firing his 26th from the left circle during 4-on-4 play.
Mermis ripped a wrist shot from above the right circle to make it 5-1 at 6:58 of the second. It was the defenseman’s third season goal and first since Oct. 26.
Upcoming Games
- Wild: Host Carolina on Tuesday night.
- Kraken: Host Boston on Monday night.
