Wild’s revival builds with 4-0 victory over Kraken

Kirill Kaprizov — and everyone else, for that matter — was healthy, the Wild seldom trailed, and they were second overall in the NHL.

That’s the last time they blitzed a team like they did the Kraken on Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center, their fast start leading to a 4-0 finish to officially end their scoring slump.

“We got a couple bounces and some great plays,” Matt Boldy said, “and it was nice to have that feeling. They’ve been hard to come by.

“To have that feeling, it took a lot of weight off a lot of guys' shoulders.”

Boldy scored twice to stop an 11-game drought, Liam Ohgren netted his first career goal at home, and goaltender Filip Gustavsson’s 34 saves sealed his fifth shutout to tie for the second-most in a single Wild season.

Combined with a rare regulation loss for the Avalanche, the Wild gained ground in the standings by moving within two points of Colorado for third place in the Central Division.

The Wild looked primed for a breakout after their 3-1 rally over the Kings on Monday, and they didn’t just turn the page. They closed the book.

This was only the second time in franchise history the Wild tallied three goals in the first five minutes, their 4:29 tear the fastest three goals to open an NHL game this season.

“To see a couple go in quick like that was nice for everyone out there,” Boldy said. “So, we just gotta keep that going and keep playing great offensive hockey. We’ve done a great job on the defensive side, but hopefully that kind of breaks the seal a little bit and see a little bit more goals go in.”

Ryan Hartman kicked off the parade, burying a shot from the slot at 2:47 for his second goal in as many games to give the Wild their first 1-0 lead since their previous game against Seattle on March 4; that 4-3 victory also featured the last first-period goal by the Wild.

Only 1:12 later, Boldy wired a Kraken turnover past goalie Philipp Grubauer (24 saves) for his first goal since the Wild’s first game after the 4 Nations Face-Off break on Feb. 22, a 4-3 overtime win at Detroit.

“I was happy to see one go in, for sure,” Boldy said. “Some relief.”

Fast forward another 30 seconds, and the Wild threaded two cross-zone passes to Ohgren, who polished off the play with a wrister to give the Wild three goals in a dizzying 1:42.

“I love to score,” Ohgren said, “and it’s a special feeling to score at home.”

Ohgren, who was called up from the minors Tuesday, only played because Marcus Johansson was out ill. The rookie’s two other NHL goals came on the road, including during the 4-0 shutout at Montreal on Jan. 30.

That was the last game the Wild had a 3-0 lead, and this was their first 3-0 advantage in the first period since Nov. 8 at Anaheim, where they ran away 5-2.

Back then, the Wild were in their heyday.

No one was hurt, Kaprizov was a scoring machine, and the Wild were cruising as one of the league’s top teams after not trailing during their first six games.

Less than a week later, an onslaught of injuries that still hasn’t let up began.

Kaprizov, whose 23 goals are tied with Boldy to pace the Wild, hasn’t played in almost two months after getting shut down with a lower-body injury and having surgery. There isn’t a timeline for his return, although the Wild expect he will suit up at some point this season.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin also remain sidelined, although Brodin continues to skate. Marcus Foligno missed a second straight game with an upper-body issue, and Marco Rossi left in the first period with a lower-body injury after getting hit by a Boldy shot.

“If it hit him and it went in, I think he would’ve been happy,” Boldy said. “No, it’s unfortunate. Just kind of one of those fluke plays where it hits him in a weird spot in between padding and stuff.”

Despite being shorthanded most of the night, the Wild didn’t waver.

The penalty kill was airtight, going 1-for-1, while the power play blanked on two tries.

BOXSCORE: Wild 4, Kraken 0

NHL standings

Gustavsson was also sharp, with Seattle settling down from a bad beginning to test him consistently in his fifth straight start. He’s on a 5-2-1 run, leading the league in March with a .944 save percentage and owning a 1.73 goals-against average that’s third.

His 11 career shutouts with the Wild are the fifth-most in team history. Only the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck has more shutouts (six) than Gustavsson this season.

“He’s steady,” Hartman said. “He doesn’t necessarily have to make too many flashy saves because he’s well-positioned out there. That’s always a good sign of feeling the game.”

But this display was most encouraging for the offense, with Boldy adding an empty-netter with 1:37 to go and Zach Bogosian picking up two assists.

The first three goals came at 5-on-5; they scored just twice at 5-on-5 over their previous six games. They also hadn’t posted at least three goals in back-to-back games since going into and coming out of the 4 Nations break.

“it’s nice, isn’t it, to be able to get a little bit of run support and then be able to play the game the right way,” coach John Hynes said. “But it’s not one bounce and it’s a tie game. So, it was good.

“I really liked our start. Then I thought we did a pretty good job the rest of the game to continue to play the right way.”