Wild recover, defeat Kraken in OT after blowing 2-goal lead in 3rd

SEATTLE — Mats Zuccarello scored 2:09 into overtime, and the Minnesota Wild recovered after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period for a 3-2 win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Kirill Kaprizov sent a saucer pass to Zuccarello at the bottom of the left face-off circle during a 2-on-1, and Zuccarello chipped it over a sprawling Philipp Grubauer for the game-winner.

“He owes me that [pass], I think, so I was hoping,” Zuccarello said. “No, I was just trying to help out. If he shoots it and scores, then I’m fine with whatever. [Brock Faber] made a great play breaking [up Seattle’s opportunity at the other end], and we get a chance on a 2-on-1.”

Minnesota coach John Hynes said: “I thought it was a battle of goaltending tonight. I thought their guy made a lot of big saves, key saves for them. I thought we had a lot of heat on him, and I thought when they got their opportunities, [Jesper Wallstedt] stood tall.”

Faber had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Hartman scored for the Wild (26-11-8), who had lost two straight (0-1-1) and ended their season-long seven-game road trip 4-1-2. Kaprizov had two assists, and Wallstedt made 26 saves.

“I don’t think it was frustrating [that we gave up the lead] at all,” Faber said. “That happens. ... We got the two points in the end. Shutouts are hard in this League, and especially when [you have] two power plays in a row, it’s hard to find momentum after that. I thought we had 1,000 chances in the third, too.”

Adam Larsson and Matty Beniers scored in the third period, and Vince Dunn had two assists for the Kraken (20-14-8), who had won four in a row but extended their point streak to 10 games (8-0-2). Grubauer made 31 saves.

“[The game] was contested, there’s no question,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “We knew it would be. I thought both goaltenders played well. We certainly had our opportunities, they had their opportunities, so it was a pretty good hockey game overall.

“I thought we started to really play with about seven or eight minutes left in the second period, where we started to create some zone time. We did a really good job there, and I thought it carried over to the third. Give our guys credit, they did a great job to come back, and it’s a huge point for us.”

Hartman gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:00 of the first period with a wrist shot from just above the right circle under Grubauer's glove.

“The first period was awful, and our execution was probably the biggest part of that,” Dunn said. “It’s just tough when you’re chasing the game a little bit to start.”

Faber made it 2-0 at 15:54. Matt Boldy chased down a loose puck into the offensive zone and slid the puck to Quinn Hughes while fending off Dunn. Hughes circled and fed a pass to Faber, who used Marcus Johansson as a screen to beat Grubauer with a wrist shot over the blocker from between the circles.

“‘Quinny’ and ‘Bolds’ did most of the work there,” Faber said.

Larsson cut the deficit to 2-1 at 3:13 of the third period. Dunn's wrist shot from the top of the left circle rang off the right post and bounced out to Larsson, who buried a slap shot from above the right circle. It was his first goal in 16 games.

“[Larsson] hit me in the second, and I missed the wide-open net,” Dunn said. “So I said, ‘Let’s reverse it,’ and put it on the other side so he can do the work. Happy for him.”

Beniers tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 9:07. Jared McCann sent a one-timer from the right circle, and Beniers lifted the rebound past Wallstedt from in front.

The Kraken had two consecutive power plays, and after failing to convert on the first opportunity, tied the game 19 seconds into the second one.

“We knew we needed one there,” Beniers said. “We had some good looks and chances on the first one, and then we were able to get the second one just off a shot rebound. And that's how goals go in from the inside. They're not always pretty passing power-play goals. A lot of them are just tips or traffic at net, shots, rebounds, things like that.”

NOTES: Kaprizov tied Marian Gaborik (437) for the second-most points in Wild history. He now trails only Mikko Koivu (709). ... Wild defenseman Daemon Hunt had one block in 11:35 of ice time in his return to the lineup after missing the previous eight games with a lower-body injury. ... Minnesota forward Joel Eriksson Ek left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury. Hynes said he doesn't think it's anything major and that Eriksson Ek can be considered day to day. ... McCann extended his point streak to six games (three goals, four assists). ... Kraken captain Jordan Eberle was a late scratch due to an upper-body injury. Lambert said he “hopes” Eberle is day to day and expects him to go on the team’s five-game road trip that begins Saturday at the Carolina Hurricanes.