Talbot handed first loss, Fleury scores twice to help Kraken defeat Wild

SEATTLE -- Cam Talbot lost for the first time this season when Haydn Fleury scored twice to help the Seattle Kraken to a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Talbot, who made 34 saves, was the second goalie in Wild history to start a regular season with five straight victories, joining Manny Fernandez (6-0-0, Oct. 11-29, 2002).
"I don't know if our thought process was that it was going to be an easy night," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "I think we got ahead of ourselves a little bit and obviously they're a real good team that just kept pushing and playing hard."
Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves for the Kraken (3-4-1), who have won consecutive games for the first time following a 5-1 victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
Fleury's first goal with the Kraken, a one-timer off the boards, tied it 1-1 at 13:23. The defenseman then gave Seattle a 2-1 lead at 7:33 of the second period on a wraparound of his own rebound.
"I think all the defensemen on our team have the capabilities to contribute," Fleury said. "I really think if we're going to be a successful team, I think we have to do that. You have to be solid in your own end, but I think there has to be a second dimension to our game where we can contribute and help drive the offense as well."

Ryan Hartman scored for the Wild (5-2-0), who won their previous three road games.
"I think we started good the first five minutes [of the game]," Minnesota center Joel Eriksson Ek said. "They got some power-play time and they got into it. We didn't and went off-balance."
Hartman scored on a one-timer from Kirill Kaprizov to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:27 of the first period.
Marcus Foligno nearly extended the lead 14 seconds later, but his goal at 6:41 was disallowed after video review confirmed the puck was kicked into the net.
Fleury tied it later in the first period and gave the Kraken the lead in the second, when they outshot the Wild 17-5.
"We did a good job in the second period," Hakstol said. "We weren't able to extend the lead but overall, that's a good 20 minutes of hockey for us, based off a lot of hard work by our guys. We did it against a very good team. That's a that's a hard-nosed team, that's a competitive team. And obviously, they showed that with some of their pushback in the third period."

Grubauer made 16 saves in the third, and the Wild were unable to capitalize on a power play after Fleury was called for interference at 10:01. Eriksson Ek had a chance to tie it during the man-advantage, but his shot hit the post with 9:29 remaining.
"We have to score on those," Eriksson Ek said.
Brandon Tanev (19:00) and Mark Giordano (19:52) each scored an empty-net goal for the 4-1 final.
NOTES: Seattle went 0-for-4 on the power play and is 2-for-18 this season. … Wild forward Connor Dewar and defenseman Jon Lizotte each made his NHL debut. Dewar had two shots on goal and four hits in 8:44 of ice time; Lizotte had three hits and blocked four shots in 14:43. … Defenseman Jordie Benn made his Wild debut. He had two hits and blocked three shots in 13:32. … Minnesota played without forwards Mats Zuccarello and Rem Pitlick, who are in COVID-19 protocol.