Kraken Relinquish Three in Third Period; Drop Sixth Straight Game

12/8/2025

SEATTLE, WASH

Joel Eriksson Ek had three points including an assist on Marcus Johansson’s winning goal to lift the Minnesota Wild past the Seattle Kraken 4-1. With the loss, the Kraken see their losing streak extended to six games.

Eriksson Ek and Johansson scored even strength goals for the Wild while Kirill Kaprisov and Vladimir Tarasenko added empty netters for Minnesota. Jordan Eberle in the second period potted Seattle’s only goal of the contest.

Monday night’s encounter served as the first of three meetings between the Wild and the Kraken. It was a milestone game for Chandler Stephenson skating in his 600th NHL game.

The first period saw no scoring, with Minnesota outshooting Seattle 10-8, but the play of the first period came from Vince Dunn who dished a massive hit on Mats Zuccarello.

Matt Boldy from below the Kraken goal line found Joel Eriksson Ek to open the scoring Minnesota at 1:18 of the second period.

Seattle went on the power play after a Matt Boldy tripping penalty. Jordan Eberle buried a Chandler Stephenson pass to tie the game at 6:48 of the period. Jared McCann also earned an assist on the goal. Minnesota outshot Seattle 9-5. With how well defense was played between the two sides, one goal could very well be enough.

Former Kraken Marcus Johansson tipped in a Joel Eriksson Ek backhand feed at 8:12 of the third to put the Wild in front. Soon after Tye Kartye seemingly scored to tie the game nine seconds later at 8:21. However, Kartye’s stick was above the crossbar, nullifying the goal for a high stick.

Kirill Kaprizov iced the game with a 175 foot empty net goal at 18:45 of the the third period. Vladmir Tarasenko added another empty netter at 19:00. The Wild defeated the Kraken 4-1. Seattle with the loss dropped their sixth game in a row.

Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves in the win for the Wild. Although Philip Grubauer did all he could with 25 saves, it was not enough. Head Coach Lane Lambert said on Grubauer, “I thought our goalie [Grubauer] was outstanding tonight and gave us a chance to win.”

Lambert went on to say, “This is a ruthless league, the National Hockey League. Nobody cares. Nobody cares if you’ve lost four or five games in a row…you got to find a way out of it by staying positive and by being determined.” Prior to the six game slump, Seattle was in second place in the Pacific Division, they have since fallen to a tie for second to last place with the Calgary Flames with 28 points in the standings.

The Kraken host the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday night on TNT at 7pm.

Stay tuned to ESN for continued coverage of the Seattle Kraken.