Postgame Hat Trick: Kraken 4, Wild 1

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 4-1 loss against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thursday night:

1. A tale of three hockey games
Minnesota owned the shots and the chances for the first 15 minutes or so, Seattle countered with a strong next 25, before the Wild re-took control in the third down a goal and attempting to rally.
The Wild had its best chance to tie the game in the third on a
power play midway through the frame. Kirill Kaprizov missed a shot at an open net, then Joel Eriksson Ek somehow didn't capitalize on two grade-A chances from in tight, sliding a loose puck through the crease and just wide, then seeing another golden chance moments later stopped by a sprawling Philipp Grubauer.
"I mean, I think everyone is watching," Eriksson Ek lamented. "We have to score on those."
The Wild pulled Cam Talbot late for the extra attacker, but Brandon Tanev iced the game with an empty-net tally with 60 seconds remaining. Mark Giodano would also add an empty-net goal with under 10 seconds left.
"We didn't have much. We didn't create a lot of offense. We didn't have any long shifts down there," said Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin. "Credit to them, they did a good job. But that was not our best game today. And I think Talbs was awesome. He gave us a chance to win today, and we didn't take (advantage)."
Talbot was outstanding all night long, especially as Minnesota struggled to get much of anything going in the second period. His play kept the Wild in the game and just a goal down until the final minute of regulation.
"He gave us an opportunity to pull the goalie [at the end] and try and make it even," said Wild forward Ryan Hartman. "We didn't help him much."

Hartman's goal gave the Wild an early 1-0 lead 6:27 into the game. Marcus Foligno appeared to double the lead on the very next shift, before officials ruled it was intentionally kicked into the goal.
Haydn Fleury buried his first goal at 13:27 of the first before giving the Kraken the lead just shy of the game's midpoint.
Minnesota just couldn't find the equalizer.
"We couldn't catch it," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "We didn't do a lot of right things in this hockey game and the outcome was deserving of that."
2. Welcome to the show
With the news of COVID-positive tests for Mats Zuccarello and Rem Pitlick earlier in the day Thursday, the Wild recalled a trio of players from the Iowa Wild for reinforcements.
Shortly before puck drop, it was announced that defensemen Dmitry Kulikov (lower-body) and Alex Goligoski (upper-body) would not play.
That meant that two of those recalled players would scratch into the lineup, and for forward Connor Dewar and defenseman Jon Lizotte, it would be their NHL debuts.
It was a heck of a change in plans for Dewar, who skated with Iowa in Des Moines on Wednesday, then was prepared to hop on a bus today to ride with the team to Winnipeg, in his home province of Manitoba, for a weekend series against the Manitoba Moose.
Instead, he flew from DSM to Dallas, then to Seattle arriving late Wednesday night so he could skate with Minnesota on Thursday morning and make his debut Thursday night.
It was a special debut as well because Dewar played junior hockey just down the road in Everett with the Silvertips, where he served as captain in 2018-19. Dewar had two sets of billet parents in the crowd on Thursday.
"It's kind of funny the way it works out and life comes full circle," Dewar said. "[Those were] some of the best years of my life. Made a lot of great friendships and relationships that I still carry on today."
Lizotte, a Grand Forks native who played college hockey at St. Cloud State, is in his fourth season of pro hockey.
It's rare for two players from one team to make their NHL debut on the same night. Thursday marked just the fifth time in franchise history and the first time in more than a decade that the Wild has had a pair of players play their first NHL game at the same time (Casey Wellman and Justin Falk last did it March 19, 2010).
3. Let's get Kraken
Not only was it a debut for Dewar and Lizotte, but it was also the debut of the Wild-Kraken matchup as a whole.
The game Thursday marked the third-ever game at Climate Pledge Arena, the awesome arena that played host to its first NHL regular season game last weekend and saw its first victory for the Kraken Tuesday in a win over Montreal.
Minnesota won't have to wait long for a second trip to Climate Pledge ... the Wild will be back in 16 days for its second game in Seattle. State of Hockey fans eager to see the NHL's newest franchise in St. Paul will have to be patient: the Kraken don't come to Minnesota until

Loose pucks

• Lizotte led the Wild with four blocks and had three hits with two PIM and one shot in his NHL debut.
• Dewar finished with four hits, two shots and two PIM.
• The loss was Minnesota's first road defeat this season (3-1-0).
• Talbot finished with 34 saves on 36 shots, losing a game for the first time this season.
• Grubauer made 30 saves in the win.
• Former Wild forward Ryan Donato tallied the lone assist on Fleury's winning goal.
• Former Wild defenseman Carson Soucy, picked by Seattle in the Expansion Draft, was a healthy scratch.

Dan's three stars

1. Haydn Fleury
   2. Philipp Grubauer
   3. Cam Talbot

Highlights

Video: MIN Recap: Hartman scores lone goal in loss to Kraken