Kirill Kaprizov scored two goals as Kraken fall flat in 5-2 loss to Wild

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 24: Brandon Tanev #13 of the Seattle Kraken checks Kirill Kaprizov #97 of the Minnesota Wild into the boards during the second period of a game at Climate Pledge Arena on February 24, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo

Kirill Kaprizov had a pair of goals and an assist, and Mats Zuccarello added four assists as the Kraken were run over, 5-2, by a Minnesota Wild team stride-for-stride with Seattle in the chase for one of the final playoff spots in the Western Conference.

The Kraken took eight total penalties in the game, with the Wild converting two chances into power play goals. Joey Daccord was chased from the lineup after allowing four goals on 13 shots in just over 22 minutes of play.

"I think we should be pretty upset with ourselves on this one tonight," head coach Dave Hakstol said. 

A chance to gain ground in the playoff chase and beat a fellow competing rival in the process was on the table for the Kraken on Saturday night. They even jumped out to the early lead less than a minute into the contest. But from that point on, the Wild dominated the contest and took advantage of a Seattle team that couldn't keep their full lineup on the ice due to penalties. 

"To be honest, not a whole lot to take away from it. Maybe just remember how much it sucks to lose and being outworked in the second period in our own building, that's not what any of us deserve for each other in this dressing room," said defenseman Vince Dunn, who scored the opening goal for Seattle. "And yeah, it's a big, big loss right now. We know these points are important and we're just going to have to forget about this one really quickly."

Seattle had a chance to remain right on the heels of the Nashville Predators for the final playoff spot in the West with a win over Minnesota. Instead, it was the Wild that gained ground on Seattle and put the Kraken five points back in the standings. The Kraken now trail the Predators, St. Louis Blues, Wild and Calgary Flames in the race for one final playoff spot. The Los Angeles Kings are currently four points clear of the Predators with two games in hand in the 7th seed.

"It hurts, especially against a group where we know we're competing against to get in the playoff," forward Yanni Gourde said. "And those are big games and yeah, as a group we didn't respond well to the pushback they had after we scored the first goal. They came back and we just didn't have an answer after."

It didn't seem as though the game would spiral so badly for Seattle given their early push to take the lead.

Dunn fired a shot from just inside the blue line that subtly redirected off the leg of Joel Eriksson Ek and off the left post into the net behind Marc-André Fleury for a 1-0 Seattle lead just 36 seconds into the contest.

But that was just about the last thing that went right for the Kraken. Inaugural Kraken member Marcus Johansson evened the score five minutes into the period on an extended Minnesota possession in Seattle's end. A shot from the right face-off dot might have slightly changed direction off Tomáš Tatar and slipped through the crook of Daccord's arm and trickled into the net.

The Kraken were called for three penalties in the frame with a tripping penalty against Jaden Schwartz and high-stick from Jamie Oleksiak gifting the Wild a 5-on-3 opportunity for over 90 seconds.

Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello played catch behind Seattle's net before Kaprizov tucked the puck inside the post before Daccord could get across to give Minnesota the 2-1 lead. Seattle killed off the rest of Oleksiak's penalty, but Adam Larsson was called for elbowing late in the frame that again put the Wild on the advantage.

Kaprizov found Matt Boldy with a cross-slot pass and Boldy's backhand finish into the top corner of the net gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead with their second power play goal of the night just 1:09 into the second period.

The top line of Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek and Boldy have been on fire recently for Minnesota. Add in Zuccarello's acumen on the power play and the Kraken put themselves in vulnerable situations.

"The number of penalties we took, especially the stick penalties," Hakstol said of where his frustration lay. "Penalties that put us down 5-on-3 and give the other team three (power play) opportunities, you know, a team that has been 30-plus percent on the power play over the last dozen games."

Dunn and Brandon Duhaime were each sent to the box shortly thereafter for matching cross-checking penalties against each other, and the Wild showed they can score at 4-on-4 as well. Right off the ensuing face-off, Kaprizov outflanked the Kraken defense coming up the ice, put Will Borgen off-balance and snapped a shot into the corner over Daccord's glove for a 4-1 Wild lead.

Kaprizov's second of the night chased Daccord from the game just over two minutes into the second period with Philipp Grubauer coming on in relief. It was the first time Daccord has been lifted from a game in the NHL. He allowed four goals on just 13 shots with two power play goals before exiting.

"Well, to be honest with you, I had that instinct one goal earlier," Hakstol said. "You know, but Joey has been really good for us. He's fought hard. He's battled. Tonight wasn't his night. This is not on him. But he, just like everybody else, is going to have to address his own performance, shake it off and be ready to go for the next one."

Minnesota would get Grubauer not long after entering the game as well. Defenseman Dakota Mermis had a shot through traffic from high atop the right circle pick the far side of the net for a 5-1 Wild lead. It was their fifth goal of the night on just 14 shots.

Grubauer finished with 17 saves on 18 shots after replacing Daccord.

Jordan Eberle managed to get one back for Seattle just over six minutes into the third period. A backhand pass to the front of the net looking for Matty Beniers deflected off the skate of Mermis and by Fleury to make it a 5-2 Minnesota game. Eriksson Ek was then called for a high-stick against Alex Wennberg to give Seattle a chance to further cut into the lead. The entire power play possession was spent in the Wild end, but Fleury stopped all three shots on net to preserve the three-goal advantage.

Fleury made 30 saves on 32 shots for the Wild.

"It's not the time of the year to be showing up for half the games or losing five minutes of momentum and panicking as a team," Dunn said. "So I think just right now we just got to forget about that and look forward to the big game we have coming up here in the next two days (against Boston)."

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