Eriksson Ek has 3 points, Wild defeat Kraken for 4th straight win

Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and two assists, and the Minnesota Wild extended their winning streak to four games with a 5-2 victory against the Seattle Kraken at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Tuesday.

Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson each had a goal and an assist, and Marcus Foligno and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Wild (45-21-12). Jesper Wallstedt made 25 saves.

“[The guys] did great,” Wallstedt said. “Obviously, maybe not our best start. ... They played a good first period, but we kind of felt that we were still in it and it wasn’t our best, so we knew we had another level that we could go into.”

Minnesota is two points behind the Dallas Stars for second in the Central Division. Whichever team finishes higher will have home-ice advantage for the Western Conference First Round series.

“We learned some lessons last time we played them (Dallas eliminated Minnesota in six games in the first round in 2022-23),” Foligno said. “We know that they’re a really good team, and so are we. But they have some lethal weapons, and we’re just more educated, more experienced going into this series than we were before.”

Brandon Montour and Adam Larsson scored for the Kraken (32-34-11), who have lost six straight (0-5-1) and 10 of their past 11 (1-8-2). Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

“It’s another loss, and it’s a 5-2 loss and another empty-net goal against, and I sit here and I say, ‘I thought we played a pretty good hockey game.’” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. "And it’s like, ‘Really? You do?’ It’s another loss, but I do actually think we played pretty good tonight. We outchanced them and we just can’t get out of our own way.”

Montour gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 10:23 of the first period. His one-timer from the right point deflected five-hole off Danila Yurov one second after a power play expired.

Boldy tied it 1-1 on a 2-on-1 rush at 11:57. Eriksson Ek’s initial shot from the right circle was stopped by the blocker of Daccord, but the rebound hit Boldy in the chest, and the forward then tapped the puck out of the air and into the open net.

Larsson put Seattle back in front 2-1 at 13:10 of the first, one-timing a pass from Chandler Stephenson in the high slot that again beat Wallstedt five-hole.

“I liked our first period, and then after that, I mean, we didn’t generate much,” Montour said. “Same stuff. Turnover at the blue line, odd-man rush goal. A guy backdoor by himself, goal. Spin around in the slot to a guy backdoor by himself, goal. Empty net. I guess you could say another easy one for the opposing team. Mental mistakes that obviously have been hurting us for the last little bit.”

Foligno scored 38 seconds into the second period to even it at 2-2. While driving the net on a 3-on-2 rush, Foligno took a pass from Yakov Trenin and slid a backhand past Daccord's left pad.

“We can’t turn the puck over at the start of the second period,” Lambert said. “We have a protocol on that rush. There’s no way that that guy should be alone in front of the net."

Jaden Schwartz appeared to give Seattle a 3-2 lead at 1:52, but a coach’s challenge for goalie interference showed that Frederick Gaudreau had interfered with Wallstedt, overturning the initial call.

“It was back and forth,” Schwartz said. “We had some spurts, we had some good zone time. ... I think it was 2-2 at the time, and then that one got disallowed, and then I think they might have scored pretty quick after, and we just couldn’t find a way to get another one.”

Tarasenko put the Wild ahead 3-2 at 12:46 of the second. Ryan Hartman tipped Jared Spurgeon’s one-timer from the right point, and Tarasenko tapped the rebound into the open net at the right post after the puck leaked behind Daccord.

Johansson pushed it to 4-2 at 6:49 of the third period. Boldy skated the puck out from below the goal line, spun in the left circle and sent a backdoor pass to Johansson, who was all alone for a tap-in at the right post.

It was Johansson’s 200th career goal.

“He’s awesome. He’s a great Swede that I love being around,” Wallstedt said of Johansson. “He’s super easy to be with, super inviting, and he’s been very good to me. Obviously, he scores timely goals. He’s been great this year for us.”

Eriksson Ek added an empty-net goal at 17:17 for the 5-2 final.

“It was a good game,” Foligno said. “We had two emotional games against two emotional teams, and then you get back, you’re a little fatigued-looking in the first, but we did a really good job just getting back to who we are and the identity of our game.”

NOTES: The Wild will face the Stars for the final time in the regular season on Thursday. Minnesota is 2-1-0 in the three previous games, and Dallas is 1-1-1. ... Wallstedt earned his 17th win of the season, the most by a rookie goaltender in Wild history, surpassing Kaapo Kahkonen (16 in 2020-21).