Dominant second period helps Wild go slumpless in Seattle

Jess Myers, The St. Paul Pioneer Press on Oct 25, 2026

Published in Hockey

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Seattle has a reputation for being rainy and gloomy, but the Minnesota Wild left town with a decidedly sunnier disposition.

After two losses in a row, the Wild took control of their Saturday night game in the second period, skating away with a 5-1 win over the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.

Kirill Kaprizov got Minnesota on the board early, then the Wild out-shot their hosts 16-1 in the second and got goals from Blake Coleman, Olli Maatta and Joel Eriksson Ek to pull away. Coleman, who was penalized twice in the game, added a late empty net goal for the clincher.

Jesper Wallstedt had 22 saves as Minnesota improved to 7-3-2 overall and 1-1-1 on their current five-game road trip.

Less than half a minute into the game, the Kraken made a tactical mistake that proved costly: they let Kaprizov get behind their defense with the puck. The Russian star flipped a backhander past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord for a 1-0 lead with just 26 seconds elapsed.

The Wild’s special teams have struggled on the road trip, and in a pregame interview, Michael McCarron said the team needed to stay out of the penalty box. Then he took the first penalty of the game, and Seattle tied the game on what was technically an even strength goal that came one second after McCarron’s penalty expired.

Out-shot 14-7 in the opening period, the Wild started the middle frame on another penalty kill as Coleman was whistled for goalie interference for a collision with Daccord at the 20-minute mark of the first.

They killed that off, then took the lead back, for good, when Coleman came out of the penalty box and was sprung on a breakaway via a Matt Kiersted lead pass and scored his third goal of the season. They led 4-1 at the second intermission after Maatta got his first in a Wild sweater and Erkisson Ek slammed home a rebound.

Daccord finished with 31 saves for Seattle, which is now 1-8-0 in home games versus the Wild since the Kraken entered the NHL in 2021.

The Kraken visit St. Paul on Jan. 28. Minnesota is off to Vancouver for the second of back-to-back games, facing the Canucks at 9 p.m. Central on Sunday night.

Briefly

The Wild lost defenseman Daemon Hunt on Saturday when Nashville claimed the 24-year-old off waivers. Picked by the Wild in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft, Hunt got his start in Minnesota but was traded to Columbus in late 2024. He returned to the Wild organization when they claimed him off waivers from the Columbus Blue Jackets in October a year ago. Hunt had played 11 games for the Wild this season without recording a point.

The Wild called up forward Mason Shaw from Iowa on Saturday, but he was a healthy scratch for the game in Seattle.