The point streak lives! While Win Streak David—the second named win streak of the season—officially came to a close at four games, the Seattle Kraken rallied back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period and stole a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. It was the 10th straight game in which the Kraken earned a point (8-0-2), and it kept them in third place in the Pacific Division on a night when every team around them in the standings also earned points.
“It was contested, there’s no question,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We knew it would be. I thought both goaltenders played well. We certainly had our opportunities, they had their opportunities. So it was a pretty good hockey game overall, if you’re up in the stands watching it. I don’t know if I loved it overall, standing behind the bench watching.”
After giving up two goals through traffic in the first period, Philipp Grubauer was once again electric the rest of the way and gave Seattle every chance to complete the comeback. But in the extra frame, the Kraken looked as bad as we’ve seen them look in an overtime period, and Mats Zuccarello ultimately finished a 2-on-1 rush with Kirill Kaprizov to give the Wild the win.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken loss to the Wild in overtime.
Takeaway 1: Poor start
Minnesota is an elite team in the NHL, no question about it. But man, the vibes of this game—aside from Pride Night happening, which always brings fun energy—were not good. While the Kraken didn’t give up many Grade A chances, they also couldn’t get much going at the offensive end of the ice, and there were shades of earlier games this season where they’d get the puck on their sticks and just hand it over to the Wild’s pesky and skilled forwards.
“The first period was awful, and our execution was probably the main— biggest part of that,” Vince Dunn said. “It’s just tough when you’re chasing the game a little bit to start the game.”
And chase they did, something that hasn’t happened much for this team of late, as they dropped into a 2-0 hole by the end of the first.
Both goals came off quick-up passes from Minnesota defensemen to start rushes, and both were scored on floating wrist shots from distance that found their way through bodies in front of Grubauer.
Ryan Hartman scored the first after Jamie Oleksiak made a solid defensive play to break up the initial attack. But Hartman got to the loose puck and used Oleksiak as a screen to beat Grubauer and make it 1-0 at 5:00.
This hasn't been a great start for the #SeaKraken.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 9, 2026
Ryan Hartman uses Jamie Oleksiak as a screen and floats one past Grubauer.
1-0 Wild. pic.twitter.com/PtLmFVyPuB
Brock Faber then scored at 15:54 to make it 2-0 on a controversial goal in which Matt Boldy held Dunn’s stick for a longtime, then laid it to Quinn Hughes, who made a fancy-Dan pass back to Faber.
Matt Boldy holds Vince Dunn's stick for about three seconds, doesn't get called, and Brock Faber scores immediately after.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 9, 2026
Dunn and McCann were both giving it to the official after that one.
(Also, kind of a sick pass by Quinn Hughes.)
2-0 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/NzDDC3DSwV
Dunn cleverly declined to comment on the non-call against Boldy after the game.
While the defensive structure appeared mostly sound, it did not feel like Seattle was going to have the juice to get back in this one against a top opponent.
Takeaway 2: Nice rally
BUT! The Kraken adjusted and dug deep in the second period, slowly tilting things back in their favor for stretches.
“I thought we started to really play with about seven or eight minutes left in the second period, where we started to create some zone time,” Lambert said. “We did a really good job there, and I thought it carried over to the third.”
With momentum shifted in the third, Adam Larsson broke through “The Wall of St. Paul” (Jesper Wallstedt) after Dunn’s shot hit the post and ricocheted all the way out to Larsson at the other point.
THE BIG CAT! 🦁🚨
Vince Dunn hits the post, but it skips all the way out to Adam Larsson, who rips it past his countryman.
2-1 Wild. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/PEnJBEJqfK
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 9, 2026
Then, with momentum fully shifted, the Kraken earned two consecutive power plays. They came up empty on the first but quickly converted on the second, with Matty Beniers finding a Jared McCann rebound and putting it away.
“Give our guys credit. They did a great job to come back,” Lambert said. “It’s a huge point for us, but again, the disappointment for me is that the game started slow for us, and we can’t do that.”
The Wild regained momentum after Beniers tied it, but Grubauer was stellar down the stretch and got his teammates to the extra frame—where they laid a big, rotten egg.
Just when you think they’re out on this point streak, the Kraken pull you… BACK IN!
Takeaway 3: What was up with that OT?
One thing Seattle typically does a good job with is earning and maintaining puck possession in 3-on-3 overtime. That… uh… did not happen Thursday.
Here is a list of mistakes that occurred in just 2:09 of gameplay during the extra frame:
- Chandler Stephenson lost the opening draw.
- Stephenson won a puck in the neutral zone but then immediately gave it back to Quinn Hughes.
- Vince Dunn gained control in Seattle’s zone but passed it backward to nobody, handing possession back to Minnesota.
- Matty Beniers gained full possession and rushed up the ice while his teammates changed. Instead of circling back or dumping the puck all the way back to restart, he tried to force a 1-on-2 and lost the puck.
- Beniers almost turned it over again at the defensive blue line, but that created a 3-on-1 opportunity when the Wild got overzealous.
- On said 3-on-1, Ryker Evans failed to get a pass through Brock Faber, which created the fatal 2-on-1 the other way, leaving forward Freddy Gaudreau—who astutely pulled up on the 3-on-1, recognizing the Kraken were overcommitted—as the lone player back against Kaprizov and Zuccarello.
Lambert summed up the OT mishaps nicely.
“We started off with a lost face-off, couldn’t get the puck back. They’ve got some dynamic players over there, there’s no question about it. So they had a couple of really good opportunities, but I thought our goaltender was excellent. And then what we’ve been really good at this year in overtime, is possessing the puck and making plays when we get it, and we weren’t good at that tonight. We gave it back to them, we had an opportunity to catch them tired, and we were changing so that we could have had that puck on our stick a long time. And we tried a 1-on-1 move, lost the puck, and then we didn’t execute on a 2-on-1. So that overtime was not one of our better ones, that’s for sure.”
—
One additional note: Kraken captain Jordan Eberle did not play in this game due to an upper-body injury. Lambert had called him a game-time decision at morning skate. After the game, Lambert said, “I’m hoping it’s more of a day-to-day thing. Certainly, that’s a hole and a blow for us to have our captain out. We’ll see where we go from here. We miss him out there.”
Lambert did confirm that Eberle is going on the team’s five-game road trip, which begins Saturday in Carolina.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
I was going to make the exact same comment about the OT. It was very weird and uncharacteristically sloppy/panicky.
I hate to say this, Darren, and I normally love your humor and banter on the podcast, but I think the named losing/winning streak thing is getting real old, real fast. Am I the only one? If I’m the only one, just ignore me.
Haha! Well, so far you’re the only one, but I guess we’ll see. The good news for you is that the streak ended last night.
No, you’re not the only one. Funny the first time, less so each subsequent time.
I second both of your points
hey, folks; I actively enjoy reading the articles, but I’d really love it if you moved your social media presence to a social network other than Twitter; bluesky is a solid choice, for example, or the fediverse (but I’m being realistic on that one 🙂 )
+1 on moving off X. Getting content on Instagram or even Youtube shorts would be much better than X at this point.
Second bluesky — Seattle has a strong presence there.
They actively maintain their Bluesky account and both John and Curtis are over there.
That overtime was jarring in its ineptitude after an excellent third period. It wasn’t even just one trio that looked discombobulated. It was so strange I had to wonder just how important Jordan Eberle is to the three-on-three units.
Ryan Lindgren has quietly been playing awesome hockey lately. I noticed him shut down a couple dangerous plays while outnumbered and by himself.
The really painful shot blocks always seem to go off the heel, as Eeli Tolvanen repeatedly found. It makes me think that there should be small metal bars around skate heels sort of like spurs without the actual spurs.
The team has played so many games this month already that it is a wonder that there are not more guys out with day-to-day injuries. As much as they clearly miss Eberle, it is good that he has the opputunity to heal up a bit with everyone else appearing healthy. I would not be surprised to hear that Tolvanen will go day-to-day with a lower-body injury (presumably somewhere in the left foot region) once Jaden Schwartz is ready to play again.
My favorite part about Lindgren has been how well he gets in to protect the net when the goalies get pulled out of position.
Compared to other defensemen who always have a frozen in place “oh shit, the goal’s empty” moment before making a desperate dive, for him it’s just an instinctual and automatic move – almost like he grew up in a family of goalies or something 😉
Who would have thought a month ago that the Sabres and Kraken would be the top two teams over these past 10 games…both getting 18 out of 20 points. I was prepared for this one to be written off, especially after the first so losing in OT was a much better than expected outcome.
It has been impressive that they continue to find ways to get points even with Montour and Schwartz out (plus Tolvanen and Eberle). Of course goaltending kept them in it again as Gru and Joey continue to steal games for us. The 4th line setting the tone and the PP continuing to produce has been a pleasant surprise to see during this run too.
OT was atrocious – every time they got the puck they did something completely boneheaded and a bit out of character – especially Matty’s ill-advised rush.
Fantastic Summary of the game as always Darren.
Question: out of the upcoming UFA’s (Eberle/Schwartz/Tolvanen/Oleksiak/Meyers) who do you see as the most likely to get extended and to what sort of contracts? has there been any recent conversations between these players and the team? In my opinion Eberle (2 years), Tolvanen (4/5 years) & Meyers (1-2 years) should all be retained/extended as I think they all bring a needed element to the team, while as much as I think Jaden Schwartz is super valuable his injury history would have me worried on a longer deal. Also could you see any of the above players being shopped at the deadline if they cant come to an agreement on a contract? (I’ve heard Oleksiak’s name in the rumor mill before). Thanks
Lane seems to be stuck on using the same guys for OT and they lopoked tired. Since that 4th line and Shane or even Catton have your legs, I do not understand his veteran philosophy
Um, Catton was on the first line out in OT. And who knows if and how long ago the fourth line guys have practiced 3-on-3? I guess there’s a possibility that some combination of Meyers/ Melanson/ Winterton and Fleury did last season in CV, but I don’t know. Do you really want to roll out that experiment for the first time during a game with no practice run?
Ive never seen someone shove their foot in their mouth so hard. Catton was on the first line in OT. You also don’t get gifted power play time. You have to earn it. While the 4th line has been great they aren’t exceptional shooters.
The overtime reminded me of Hakstol’s final season where it was pretty much like that all year, the difference being Lambert actually recognizes the problems of last night. With Hakstol it never got brought up or seemingly addressed. They’ve been good at 3-on-3 all season with just a few hiccups so lets hope he nips this in the bud. Considering over 20% of NHL games go to overtime, it seems like an important point of emphasis.
This is gonna sound like putting lipstick on a pig, but the Kraken have played the top teams of the Central five times (DALx2, MINx2,COLx1) and they’ve lost all five. They’ve also been within a goal in every one before the netminder was pulled. The Kraken are not a “contender”, but they can certainly skate with those teams.
Go Kraken!!!
The sloppy puck handling particularly at the blue lines and in the neutral zone was very season-3 reminiscent. It was present in the Boston game as well, so definitely needs some cleanup.
I’m pretty worried that they’ve got enough in the tank physically to make it through this road trip. At least they should get a couple of nights in the same hotel with the Rangers/Devils and a travel-free off-day in between.