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Wild turn stern when penalties cause a crisis, overcome Kraken

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on

Published in Hockey

SEATTLE – Marcus Foligno smacked Filip Gustavsson’s goalie pad with his stick repeatedly in praise, and Brock Faber stood at the Wild bench and offered fist-bumps to the penalty killers as they arrived for a break.

Later, Faber skated over to Gustavsson and gave him a couple of pats on the back.

After Faber was dinged with a pair of penalties, first a slash and then a boarding call — both against the Kraken’s Eeli Tolvanen — Gustavsson denied Tolvanen’s penalty shot and then backstopped a gutsy Wild penalty kill that previewed their bend-don’t-break, 4-3 win Tuesday night at Climate Pledge Arena against a pesky Seattle lineup.

Gustavsson finished with 33 saves after shutting out the Bruins 1-0 last Sunday, the power play (courtesy Vinnie Hinostroza) capitalized, and the new-look second line featuring Marcus Johansson, Frederick Gaudreau and Mats Zuccarello continued to click by scoring two goals.

But how the Wild responded to that double whammy against Faber 4 minutes, 21 seconds into the second period was crucial.

Ahead 3-1, Gustavsson stopped Tolvanen’s do-over after Faber was whistled for slashing Tolvanen on his breakaway. Gustavsson improved to 4-for-4 on penalty shots in his NHL career.

Faber was also punished for pushing Tolvanen from behind at the end of the play, and while he sat in the penalty box for two minutes, the Wild valiantly fended off the Kraken’s pressure: Despite Gaudreau’s stick breaking, the Wild kept Seattle in check thanks to three clutch stops by Gustavsson and shot blocks from Foligno and Jake Middleton.

Once back at full strength, the Wild extended their lead when Zuccarello polished off a give-and-go pass from Johansson at 8:22.

That goal was eventually upgraded from insurance to imperative because the Kraken didn’t ease up the rest of the period: Shane Wright delivered on Seattle’s second power play at 14:10 before Brandon Montour drained a one-timer with 12 seconds left to cap off a 17-9 shot advantage over the Wild in the second.

The Wild had a Devin Shore goal overturned early in the third period because the Kraken successfully challenged to check for a missed stoppage; a lengthy review determined Jakub Lauko hit the puck with a high stick before Shore’s finish.

 

But the Wild didn’t end up needing the cushion, with Gustavsson making another 11 saves in the third (compared to one for opposing goalie Joey Daccord) during a nail-biting conclusion that wasn’t as clean as the Wild’s start.

At 12:27 of the first period, Zuccarello’s shot clipped Hinostroza en route to the net during the Wild’s only power play.

An Adam Larsson point shot 4:13 later sent both teams back to the drawing board, but the Wild netted the tiebreaker with 1:37 remaining in the first on a wind-up by captain Jared Spurgeon that went off the post and in behind Daccord (15 saves).

Ryan Hartman, who returned to action after serving an eight-game suspension for roughing, assisted on Spurgeon’s goal.

The Wild converted again only 1:41 into the second when Gaudreau flung in the puck from the right faceoff circle for his second goal in as many games and third in four.

Spurgeon’s assist sealed his 73rd multipoint game, which is the most in team history for a defenseman. Gaudreau and Zuccarello each picked up a goal and assist, while Johansson set up both their goals.

But the rout the Wild appeared headed for didn’t arrive.

Still, they never trailed in part to that defensive effort in the second period that kept Seattle playing catch-up even though the Kraken dominated the puck.


©2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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