SEATTLE – Marcus Foligno smacked Filip Gustavsson’s goalie pad with his stick repeatedly in praise, and Brock Faber stood at the Wild bench and offered fist-bumps to the penalty killers as they arrived for a break.
Wild survive third period, hold on to beat Kraken 4-3
Goalie Filip Gustavsson stood strong against a penalty shot and in the third period, when the Wild had only one shot.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 5, 2025 at 4:31PM
Later, Faber skated over to Gustavsson and gave him a couple of pats on the back.
After Faber was dinged with a pair of penalties, first a slash and then a boarding call — both against the Kraken’s Eeli Tolvanen — Gustavsson denied Tolvanen’s penalty shot and then backstopped a gutsy Wild penalty kill that previewed their bend-don’t-break, 4-3 victory Tuesday night at Climate Pledge Arena against a pesky Seattle lineup.
“It’s better to win and learn some lessons,” coach John Hynes said, “than lose and learn some lessons.”
Gustavsson finished with 33 saves after shutting out the Bruins 1-0 last Sunday, the power play (courtesy Vinnie Hinostroza) capitalized, and the new-look second line featuring Marcus Johansson, Frederick Gaudreau and Mats Zuccarello continued to click by scoring two goals.
But how the Wild responded to that double whammy against Faber 4 minutes, 21 seconds into the second period was crucial.
The Wild were ahead 3-1 when Gustavsson stopped Tolvanen’s do-over after Faber was whistled for slashing Tolvanen on his breakaway. Gustavsson improved to 4-for-4 on penalty shots in his NHL career.
“If you’re going to call a penalty shot, you gotta be for sure you know exactly what went on,” Hynes said. “It was not a slash.”
Faber was also punished for pushing Tolvanen from behind at the end of the play, and while he sat in the penalty box for two minutes, the Wild valiantly fended off the Kraken’s pressure: Despite Gaudreau playing without a stick after handing his off to Jake Middleton, the Wild kept Seattle in check thanks to three clutch stops by Gustavsson and shot blocks from Foligno and Middleton.
“That’s never happened where I’ve gotten two penalties in one, but I’m glad the guys were able to kill it, and Gus was able to make the save on the penalty shot,” said Faber, who also felt he didn’t slash Tolvanen.
Once back at full strength, the Wild extended their lead when Zuccarello polished off a give-and-go pass from Johansson at 8:22.
That goal was eventually upgraded from insurance to imperative because the Kraken didn’t ease up the rest of the period: Shane Wright delivered on Seattle’s second power play at 14:10 before Brandon Montour drained a one-timer with 12 seconds left to cap off a 16-10 shot advantage over the Wild in the second.
“We just weren’t as hard on the puck,” Hynes said. “We didn’t close on some battles, and they had a push. But I think we allowed them to get a little bit more time and space and feed the momentum.”
The Wild had a Devin Shore goal overturned early in the third period because the Kraken successfully challenged to check for a missed stoppage; a lengthy review determined Jakub Lauko hit the puck with a high stick before Shore’s finish.
“From our angles we didn’t see anywhere he touched it,” Hynes said. “I’m assuming that they had an angle that we weren’t able to see to make the call. That one is what it is.”
But the Wild didn’t end up needing the cushion, with Gustavsson making another 11 saves in the third (compared to one for opposing goalie Joey Daccord, who totaled 16) during a nail-biting conclusion that wasn’t as clean as the Wild’s start.
“It got a little scary there,” Gustavsson said.
At 12:27 of the first period, Zuccarello’s shot clipped Hinostroza en route to the net during the Wild’s only power play.
An Adam Larsson point shot 4:13 later sent both teams back to the drawing board, but the Wild netted the tiebreaker with 1:37 remaining in the first on a wind-up by captain Jared Spurgeon that went off the post and in behind Daccord.
Ryan Hartman, who returned to action after serving an eight-game suspension for roughing, assisted on Spurgeon’s goal.
The Wild converted again only 1:41 into the second when Gaudreau flung in the puck from the right faceoff circle for his second goal in as many games and third in four.
Spurgeon’s assist sealed his 73rd multipoint game, the most in team history for a defenseman. Gaudreau and Zuccarello each picked up a goal and assist, while Johansson set up both their goals.
“We made some plays,” Zuccarello said. “That’s a huge difference in the first: We made plays, and I don’t know why but you get a goal and then I think you stop making plays.
“We were throwing pucks away a little bit too much and just giving them momentum coming back at us. It’s hard to play that way, so that’s something we’ve gotta do better.”
As a result, the rout the Wild appeared headed for didn’t arrive.
“First half was ours,” Zuccarello said. “The second half was theirs, and then we still found a way to win.”
They never trailed in part thanks to that defensive effort in the second period that kept Seattle playing catch-up even though the Kraken dominated the puck.
“There were a lot of twists and turns in the game tonight, and sometimes you’re going to get those,” Hynes said. “But to find a way to win it is the most important thing.”
The childhood buddies are playing together after Hartman returned from a suspension and Hinostroza came over in a trade.
