The Seattle Kraken will ride a four-game point streak into their Wednesday matchup against the Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul, Minn.
The Kraken (30-34-5, 65 points) defeated the host Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 on Tuesday, rallying from a 2-0 first-period deficit to improve to 3-0-1 over the past week.
Shane Wright scored twice at Chicago, defenseman Adam Larsson had a goal and two assists, Matty Beniers added a goal and an assist, and Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann also scored. Andre Burakovsky had two assists and Joey Daccord made 27 saves.
“I think a little bit in the first period, especially the first five, six, seven minutes, we were stuck in mud a little bit,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “There were some bounces, certainly, that contributed to that, but I think Chicago came pretty hard. We had to weather the storm.”
Larsson made it 2-1 with 2:16 left in the first period and Eberle and McCann scored 26 seconds apart early in the second period to give Seattle the lead for good.
“To have four lines roll over and everyone share the responsibility, everyone share the load, is when we’re at our best,” Bylsma said. “That’s what the game afforded, and you see contributions from throughout our lineup as a result.”
The Wild got a positive result in their most recent outing, a 3-1 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Monday. Minnesota (38-25-5, 81 points) had gone 1-3-1 in its previous five games.
Mats Zuccarello’s power-play goal broke a 1-1 tie with 4:38 left and Marcus Johansson added an empty-net goal. Ryan Hartman had a power-play tally and an assist for the Wild. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon had two assists, and Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves.
“When you’re fighting as hard as we’re fighting here down the stretch, to be able to get a good win, I just thought (Monday) we looked more like ourselves,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I thought we had good energy. We had a great competitive spirit to us. I thought our details were good. Special teams were a big factor in the game, so that helped. …
“I said the other night, it was like the earth was falling the other night, and I told you guys, ‘We have to be ready for another game,’ and we got ourselves back up and running.”
With Minnesota down 1-0 and eight minutes left in the first period, Wild defenseman Jon Merrill lunged to make a stick save in front of an open net, denying Alex Laferriere’s diving shot.
“A little bit of a breakdown, we were all kind of scrambling,” Merrill said. “We talked about coming into this game and doing whatever it took to get the win, playing desperate, being there for each other. That’s all I was trying to do is be there for (Gustavsson). And got lucky it hit my stick.”
Wild forward Marcus Foligno was a late scratch on Monday due to an upper-body injury. Forward Liam Ohgren, who has a goal and three assists in 23 games for Minnesota this season, was recalled from AHL Iowa under emergency conditions on Tuesday.
The teams split their two previous meetings this season. The Kraken won 5-4 in a shootout at Saint Paul on Oct. 12, and the Wild won 4-3 in Seattle on March 4.
–Field Level Media
