Tye Kartye scored the decisive goal with 2:40 left in the game, tipping in a shot by Oliver Bjorkstrand, as the Seattle Kraken secured a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night, marking the end of the regular season for both teams who didn’t make the playoffs.
Despite a late goal by Brock Faber for the Wild on a power play, Kraken goalie Joey Daccord, with 21 saves and the defense managed to hold off the Wild’s late surge.
“It’s been tough all year, and I think it was only fitting that we brought it down to the wire there at the last second,” Daccord said.
Brandon Tanev, who set up both of Yanni Gourde’s goals in the third period, displayed bravery by blocking a shot with his body in the dying seconds of the game.
“Turbo made some great blocks there,” Gourde praised. “Everybody gave it their all.” Kirill Kaprizov scored his 46th goal of the season for the Wild in the first period, with Mats Zuccarello equalizing in the third period.
Matty Beniers leveled the game for the Kraken in the second period before Gourde’s short-handed breakaway. He later scored on an empty-netter. Beniers, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, saw a dip in his performance this season compared to the previous one.
Kaprizov concluded the season with 96 points, the second-highest in franchise history, behind his record-setting performance in 2021-22. Jared McCann’s errant pass led to Kaprizov’s opening goal for the Wild, giving them the early lead.
The Wild have had five players who scored 40 goals or more in their 23-season history, with Kaprizov achieving this feat three times. Eric Staal (2017-18) and Marian Gaborik (2007-08) were the other two.
“If you’re going to go places in this league, you need a player of his caliber and what he means to the team in situations he plays in,” coach John Hynes said. “I respect his effort.”
Daccord had a successful season for the Kraken, but after defeating the 2022 champion Colorado in the playoffs last spring, the team didn’t perform as well this time.
Both the Kraken and the Wild were among the teams competing for the Western Conference wild-card spots, but they were eliminated from contention seven and five games ago, respectively.
This season marks only the second time in 12 years that the Wild have missed the playoffs. Fleury, who signed a $2.5 million contract extension for next season, had a standout performance, passing Patrick Roy for second place on the all-time wins list in January.
Before the game, the 39-year-old was honored with the Wild’s Tom Kurvers Humanitarian Award on the ice. Kurvers, an assistant general manager for the Wild, passed away in 2021 due to cancer.
