No, this was not an encore performance from Mason Kraft and the Moorhead Spuds boys’ hockey team.

This was the Minnesota Wild getting out to the fastest goal-scoring start at home in franchise history when they jumped all over the Seattle Kraken following an 8:52 p.m. puck drop Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center. The end result was a 4-0 win.

Here are five rules from the Wild’s second consecutive win on home ice:

1. The Wild scored goals in a 1:42 span, also the second-fastest three goals to start a game in franchise history.

The floodgates opened early for the Wild, the same team that’s had trouble scoring goals across its last dozen or so games. It hadn’t scored a first-period goal in six games, let alone pumping in multiple goals in quick succession. The Wild scored the trio of goals in a span of 1 minute, 42 seconds. That prompted Seattle (30-35-5) to call a timeout and calm things down at the 4:29 mark of the game.

“The plan was to try to come out right away, get everyone involved, and that was a really good start for us,” said Wild forward Ryan Hartman.  

The fastest three goals for the Wild came Jan. 14, 2017 in Dallas when they scored three in four minutes.

The Wild also became the fastest team to score three goals to start a game this season in the NHL. The previous mark was the Detroit Red Wings scoring three by the 5:06 mark on Feb. 23.

The Wild also scored at least three goals in back-to-back games. The last time that happened was sandwiched around the break in February with a 6-3 win against the New York Islanders on Feb. 8 and then a 4-3 overtime victory in Detroit right after the break on Feb. 22.

2. Hartman scored first, Matt Boldy broke out of his slump, Liam Ohgren scored his second of the season.

First, it was Hartman tallying his second goal in as many games. He slid perfectly into the slot, accepted the puck and fired it into the net only 2 minutes, 47 seconds into the game. It’s his ninth goal of the season and third since returning from his eight-game suspension.

Matt Boldy scored an unassisted tally just 1 minute, 12 seconds later to break his 11-game goal drought.

“It’s always fun to score,” Boldy said. “I was happy to see one go in, for sure. Some relief.

“I think the more you build it up, the more stress you create about yourself. You try to stay away from it and keep if off your mind.”

He also added an empty-netter, which gave him 23 goals for the season and putting him into a tie for the team goals lead with the injured Kirill Kaprizov.

Liam Ohgren, playing his first Wild game since Feb. 28 at Colorado, made it 3-0 at the 4:29 mark of the game. It’s the third goal of his NHL career and first at Xcel Energy Center. He’s spent the majority of the season in Iowa, but he also recognized how much it helped when the team got out to such a quick lead.

“When that happens, you’re always on a roll, and you always want more,” Ohgren said. “That’s what keeps the guys going. It was fun.”

3. The game was pretty quiet after the first five minutes.

Unlike the Stillwater vs. Moorhead boys’ state championship game that turned into an exciting 7-6 win for the Spuds, the similarities to the Wild game ended at that 4:29 mark in the first period.

Any late-arriving fans to the late-evening puck drop missed all the action. Beyond the three quick goals, there wasn’t much in the way of excitement. The Wild couldn’t generate much of anything on two first-period power plays. They also went cold in the shots-on-goal department in the final minutes of the opening period and didn’t register a shot in the second until just after the first TV timeout.

The Wild successfully killed off a penalty in the first minute of the second period, going 11-for-12 across the last five games.

Also on the defensive end, Filip Gustavsson made 34 saves in net for his 27th win of the season and fifth shutout. The victory was the Wild’s sixth shutout this season. Gustavsson is 5-2-1 with an NHL-leading .944 save percentage in March.

Wild coach John Hynes likes the consistency he’s seeing from Gustavsson lately.

“It seems like he’s mentally alert and physically he feels good,” Hynes said. “That’s what I like.

“Naturally, the game forces you to be completely engaged and intense, and I thought in tonight’s game he was there when we needed him because we didn’t play a perfect game, but even though we were up with a lead I thought when they had some looks he was sharp and that to me was a really good game by him and then I think it shows you where his mental focus is.

4. The Wild can’t make it through the game without another player getting injured.

The news wasn’t all good on the Wild front. Marco Rossi left the game early in the second period when he took a Boldy shot off his leg. The team announced in the second period that Rossi wouldn’t return after sustaining the lower-body injury. Hynes didn’t have an update on Rossi after the game.

“Hopefully he’s okay, and it’s nothing serious,” Hartman said.

The Wild were already shorthanded (what else is new?) to start the night with Marcus Foligno missing his second straight game with day-to-day status. Marcus Johansson also missed Wednesday because of illness. Ohgren found out he was playing when he got to the rink pregame.

Add Rossi to the mix, and that brings the Wild’s list of players not suiting up quite lengthy:

Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, Foligno, Johansson and Rossi. It’s another blow for Rossi, whose goal slump reached 11 games including Wednesday.

5. That’s back-to-back Wild wins on home ice for the first time since early February.

The Wild have been a better road team all season, with a 22-10-3 record. Home ice has not been their advantage, for whatever reason. They’ve hovered around the .500 mark at home and have also put up some real lackluster efforts. They were just booed off the ice Saturday in a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, after all.

But the win against the Kraken improved the Wild’s mark at Xcel Energy Center to 17-15-2, and 3-2-1 on the seven-game homestand that wraps up Saturday afternoon against Buffalo. Coupled with the team’s 3-1 win over Los Angeles on Monday, the Wild won back-to-back home games for the first time since Feb. 6 and Feb. 8 against Carolina and the Islanders.

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The Matt Boldy performance that stood out the most last season wasn’t his two-goal, three-point performances in wins at Calgary and Columbus. It wasn’t the 18 goals and 48 points he posted after the New Year. It wasn’t the success he found playing on the Wild’s top line with Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek.

Rather, it was one with zero positive moments: His complete no-show in a 2-1 victory on Feb. 7 in Chicago.

The Wild had just returned from their bye week, but Boldy remained on vacation. It was the type of performance Boldy can’t have and the Wild can’t afford. An off night? Sure. But this checked-out version of the winger had to be considered an embarrassment by a team that had seen enough positives to sign him to a seven-year, $49 million contract in January 2023.

It was suggested on a Wild-related podcast — you might be familiar with “Judd’s Hockey Show” on SKOR North — that Boldy should have spent the next game watching from the press box. A reminder that deciding not to show up for a game wouldn’t be tolerated.

Wild coach John Hynes, who had taken over for Dean Evason in late November after a 5-10-4 start, had other ideas. He put Boldy back on the ice two nights later and was rewarded with a goal and an assist in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Matt Boldy creates a scoring chance against Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord on Oct. 12. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

This was the version of Boldy the Wild expect to see on a nightly basis and one they have seen far more of since that game at United Center.

Boldy, who has a goal and an assist on the Wild’s top power-play unit, made his prettiest pass of the season on Ryan Hartman’s goal Saturday in the third period. He took a pass from Johansson behind the net, drew defenseman Will Borgen toward him, then made a no-look pass from his backhand into the slot, past the Kraken’s Shane Wright and right onto Hartman’s stick for a snap shot that beat goalie Joey Daccord.

Matt Boldy came oh-so-close to scoring the overtime winner against Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord on Oct. 12. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“I just want to win,” Boldy said after Thursday’s game. “I think everyone in this locker room wants to win. We’re so close. We all get along so well. (We’re) competitive and we didn’t have the year we expected last year, so all of us in here just want to win games and have a successful year.”

The more Boldy contributes as he did in the first two games, the more likely that is to happen.

Hynes and general manager Bill Guerin have both talked about their expectations for Boldy, and Hynes is eventually planning to play him on a penalty kill that was among the NHL’s worst last season and has given up two goals on five chances this season.

Boldy had a career-high 31 goals in 81 games in 2022-23 and last season had 29 goals and a career-high 69 points in 75 games. He has the talent to score 40 or more goals and some expect that to happen in his fourth NHL season.

That isn’t always easy because Boldy needs to play a physical style that includes taking punishment and winning puck battles. The fact he has the ability to make highly skilled plays once the puck is on his stick is what makes him such a threat.

“He’s got everything,” Johansson said. “He’s got the work ethic and the skill and the compete.He’s just got everything. He’s the goal scorer, he’s a passer. … There’s no ceiling for that guy. He can be as good as he wants.”

That starts with the realization that what happened last February in Chicago can never happen again.

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The post Gallery: Wild vs. Kraken appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

1. It was a night to celebrate round-number milestones.

Once the puck dropped between Seattle and Minnesota, multiple players checked off round-number milestones. Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek played in his 500th NHL game, though he was limited to 11 shifts and 11:44 of ice time (more on that later). Wild winger Marcus Foligno laced up his skates for game No. 800. Both were recognized at the first TV timeout with graphics on the videoboard and applause from the crowd.

Marc-Andre Fleury started in net for the Wild, marking his 21st season in the NHL. According to Minnesota Wild PR, Fleury is tied for second all-time in seasons played by a goaltender. Only Martin Brodeur played more (22 seasons).

The first goal for each team on Saturday marked milestones, too. Mats Zuccarello scored his 200th NHL goal, and Seattle’s Jordan Eberle scored No. 300; he later scored No. 301.

2. Matt Boldy has no-look-pass skills.

Matt Boldy scored a career-high 69 points last season, a year after he put up a career-high 31 goals in 2022-23. Boldy’s production can be streaky at times, but when he’s on, he’s one of the most skilled and talented forwards on the Wild’s roster.

The 23-year-old dazzled with a beautiful no-look pass in the third period against Seattle in what the Wild hoped would stand as the game-winning goal. With Ryan Hartman coming into the slot, Boldy was behind the net with the puck. He fed the puck behind his back out front to Hartman for the quick goal.

In a similar flashy fashion, Boldy also scored the first goal of the 2024-25 Wild season late in the first period against Columbus on Thursday night. He turned and fired the puck from the circles for a blind shot. Boldy, who missed all the preseason games with an injury, skates on the second line with Johansson and Eriksson Ek.

After the season opener, Johansson spoke highly of Boldy’s talents.

“I think he’s got everything,” Johansson said. “He’s got the work ethic and skill. The compete. He’s just got everything. He’s a goal scorer, he’s a passer. Like I said, there’s no ceiling for that guy. He can be as good as he wants.”

3. The middle of the second period included an elbow to the face (no penalty) and a questionable tripping penalty which led to a power-play goal for Seattle.

The Wild had a 2-1 lead early in the second period. But close to the midway point in the contest, things shifted and turned into a back-and-forth affair. First, Eriksson Ek was blatantly elbowed in the face along the glass by Adam Larsson. No whistle, no penalty. Seconds later, defenseman Jonas Brodin and Brandon Tanev got tangled up near the benches. Brodin went down on what appeared to be a trip by Tanev. Instead, officials called Brodin for a tripping penalty. The Wild – and their fans – were not pleased.

Marcus Foligno drives the net against Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord on Oct. 12. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The irate vibes continued when the Kraken tied the game 2-2 on the ensuing power play. A long shot from Andre Burakovsky deflected in off of Eberle’s leg for a backdoor goal. Officials looked at the video to see if he kicked the puck into the net but determined it was a good goal.

From there, the hits started flying, too, as physical play turned up a notch. Johansson was hit at center ice and hobbled toward the bench and down the tunnel. But he returned soon after and played the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Foligno and Yakov Trenin started cracking hits on the Kraken. Foligno finished with a game-high seven hits, while Trenin registered three.

“Unfortunately, that swing in the game right there allowed them to get back into it,” said Wild coach John Hynes, of Seattle tying the game. “I liked the way that we responded back from that. I thought when things got a little bit physical, I really liked our response to that.”

Eriksson Ek left the ice and returned briefly in the third period wearing a full face shield. But he essentially missed the rest of the game. Sunday ahead of the team’s game in Winnipeg, the Wild announced that Eriksson Ek didn’t travel with the team and sustained a broken nose in Saturday’s game. He’s expected to be back for Tuesday’s game in St. Louis.

4. Kirill Kaprizov registers his first multi-point game of the season.

On opening night when the Wild’s top line was relatively quiet, Kirill Kaprizov recorded an assist on the team’s third goal. But Saturday? Kaprizov had a three-point night – and nearly made it four points if his buzzer-beater attempt at the end of the first period had gotten to the net a tad sooner.

Kirill Kaprizov had a three-point night against Seattle. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

To start, Kaprizov had a perfect feed from behind the net out front to his buddy Zuccarello streaking to the slot. That made it 1-0 Wild. With 14 seconds to play in the first period, with the same score, Kaprizov drew a tripping penalty behind the Kraken net. With only a few seconds on the power play before intermission, Kaprizov took a shot that found the back of the net as time expired. It looked like Kaprizov knew that the puck was only a second late. Video replays confirmed that the puck didn’t cross the goal line until after the period ended.

A buzz-kill instead of a buzzer-beater. But the Wild scored on that same power play anyway, early in the second period with Kaprizov getting an assist on Boldy’s second goal of the season. Kaprizov’s first goal of the season gave the Wild a 3-2 lead early in the third period when he tipped in a Marco Rossi long-range shot in front of the net.
Kaprizov scored at least three points in 11 games last season on his way to 46 goals and 96 points.

5. Wild couldn’t hold three leads.

The Wild held a 2-0 lead 66 seconds into the second period. But from there, Seattle always had a response, and it usually didn’t take long. Just 40 seconds after that Boldy power-play goal for the two-goal lead, the Kraken crashed the net and jammed away at the puck in the crease until it snuck by Fleury. Eberle got credit for the 300th goal of his NHL career.

Seattle tied the game three times to eventually force overtime and a shootout. Kaprizov gave the Wild a 3-2 lead early in the third period, but the Kraken again answered quickly with a goal from Tye Kartye one minute, six seconds later. Boldy’s no-look pass to Hartman put the Wild ahead again, a lead they held onto for a few minutes before the Kraken buried a puck on a delayed penalty to tie the game 4-4 with 3:26 remaining in regulation.

The Wild had their chances in overtime, too. Boldy just missed a shot in tight near the goal. Rossi went to the net and was denied. In the shootout, Zuccarello scored first, but Kaprizov hit the pipe and Boldy fired the puck over the top of the net, which sealed the victory for Seattle, who went 2-for-2 in the shootout with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eberle scoring.

The Wild never trailed in Saturday’s game against the Kraken, until the final shootout goal scored by Eberle, the third time on the night when he put the puck in the net.

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