Defenseman Haydn Fleury scored twice as the expansion Seattle Kraken put together the first winning streak in franchise history, defeating the visiting Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Thursday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
Brandon Tanev and Mark Giordano added empty-net goals in the final minute and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves for the Kraken, who won their second straight after a 5-1 victory against Montreal on Tuesday.
Ryan Hartman scored for Minnesota, which lost its second in a row after opening the season with a five-game winning streak. Goalie Cam Talbot stopped 34 of 36 shots.
Fleury’s go-ahead goal, at 7:33 of the second period, was of the highlight-reel variety. The expansion draft selection from the Anaheim Ducks took a pass near the point from Ryan Donato, faked a slap shot and skated past a defender down the left wing.
Fleury’s initial, close-range wrist shot was stopped by Talbot, but the rebound dropped behind the goal line and Fleury picked it up and put a wraparound inside the right post before the goalie could recover.
Tanev’s empty-netter with 1 minute remaining, assisted by Yanni Gourde, was his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Giordano scored at 19:52, assisted by Riley Sheahan.
Minnesota opened the scoring at 6:27 of the first period as Hartman flicked a one-timer past Grubauer from between the hash marks after taking a pass from Kirill Kaprizov from behind the net. Marcus Foligno also got an assist.
The Kraken tied it at 13:23 as Fleury’s shot from the point made its way past a screened Talbot. Jaden Schwartz made a pass off the boards from behind the net to get the puck to Fleury. Joonas Donskoi also was credited with an assist.
Talbot had his season-opening winning streak snapped at five games, one shy of the franchise record set by Manny Fernandez in 2002-03.
The Wild were without forwards Mats Zuccarello and Rem Pitlick, who both entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol earlier in the day.
Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy was a healthy scratch, so he didn’t get to play against his former team.
–Field Level Media