Wild separate in the third to prolong Kraken losing streak

Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and two assists as the Minnesota Wild defeated the host Seattle Kraken 4-1 Monday night.

Marcus Johansson, Kirill Kaprizov and Vladimir Tarasenko also tallied, and goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves for the Wild, who went 2-2-0 on their four-game trip.

Jordan Eberle scored for Seattle, which lost its sixth straight (0-5-1). Philipp Grubauer stopped 25 of 27 shots but suffered his first regulation loss of the season (4-1-1).

Johansson, who played with the Kraken in their expansion season of 2021-22, tallied the go-ahead goal at 8:12 of the third period on an acrobatic move in front of the net. Eriksson Ek got to a loose puck on the right-wing boards and backhanded it toward the top of the crease. Johansson jumped and tipped the puck between his own legs in one motion, with the redirection sailing over Grubauer's shoulder and into the far upper corner of the net.

Kaprizov and Tarasenko scored empty-net goals at 18:45 and 19:00, respectively, to clinch the victory. Kaprizov's goal was his team-leading 18th of the season.

Minnesota opened the scoring at 1:18 of the second period as Jacob Middleton kept the puck in the offensive zone and Matt Boldy drove the puck down the left-wing boards and behind the net. Eriksson Ek skated to the low slot and Boldy found him for a snap shot that left Grubauer little chance.

The Kraken tied it on the power play at 6:48 of the period after Chandler Stephenson won a faceoff in the offensive zone. Jared McCann tapped the puck back to defenseman Vince Dunn at the left point, who returned it to McCann. The forward sent a cross-ice pass to Stephenson, who had moved from the left to the right faceoff circle, and he spotted Eberle at the far post for a tap-in. It was Eberle's team-leading ninth goal of the season.

Dunn put a jarring shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Wild forward Mats Zuccarello at the blue line with about five minutes left in the first. Zuccarello took a hard fall with his helmet bouncing off the ice and went straight to the locker room and didn't return. Minnesota's Danila Yurov came to Zuccarello's defense and received a double-minor for roughing in a slight scuffle with Dunn, who got two minutes for roughing.

Seattle rookie forward Berkly Catton, a first-round pick in 2024, missed the game with an upper-body injury and is considered week to week. Catton blocked a shot with his right hand late in Saturday's 4-3 loss to Detroit.

--Field Level Media