Kraken fall 4-3 to Wild as trade deadline looms

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 04: Yanni Gourde #37 of the Seattle Kraken and Vinnie Hinostroza #18 of the Minnesota Wild battle for the puck during the third period of a game at Climate Pledge Arena on March 4, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Ch (Christopher Mast / NHLI / Getty Images)

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SEATTLE - Shane Wright scored on the power play and Kaapo Kakko added a pair of assists for the Seattle Kraken, but they couldn't dig out of a three-goal deficit in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

Yanni Gourde picked up an assist for Seattle in his return to the lineup after a two-month absence for sports hernia surgery in the team's final home game ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline. Gourde is one of a few Kraken that may have played their final home game with the team in the loss on Tuesday night, as Seattle is looking to deal this week.

Mats Zuccarello, Jared Spurgeon and Frederick Gaudreau each had a goal and an assist for the Wild, and former Kraken forward Marcus Johansson had a pair of assists to lead Minnesota.

"Just felt the puck went in a little bit too easy for various reasons," head coach Dan Bylsma said.

The Wild scored immediately on a power play to take the early lead after a Brandon Tanev high-sticking penalty. Vinnie Hinostroza worked for position in front of the net and had a shot from Zuccarello deflect off him into the goal for a 1-0 lead.

"We pushed the guy's stick into Joey (Daccord)'s pad and caught his pad and didn't allow him to make the save," Bylsma said.

Seattle answered back just a few minutes later on a delayed penalty call against Minnesota for tripping Matty Beniers. With Daccord on the bench for an extra attacker, Adam Larsson fired a slap shot from distance that beat Filip Gustavsson to tie the game at 1-1.

Minnesota recaptured the lead late in the period to take the advantage into intermission. Spurgeon picked the corner of the net from the right circle around the Hinostroza screen of Daccord for a 2-1 lead.

Gaudreau and Zuccarello pushed the Wild lead to 4-1 in the second period.

Gaudreau's pass to the crease looking for Zuccarello deflected off the skate of Jamie Oleksiak into the net by Daccord for Gaudreau's 14th goal of the year. Zuccarello then scored his 14th of the season to match as he found a wide open net off an impressive passing play with Johansson.

But the Kraken clawed back into the contest. Wright stayed hot as he scored his 14th goal of the season with a power play goal to trim the lead to two.

"I think I'm just trying to shoot the puck," Wright said. "I mean, I get in the scoring area, I just want to get in on the net and just kind of see a spot, I'm shooting. I would say it's I'm just trying to shoot puck more, trying to score and was able to find one."

Since a three-game reset as a healthy scratch in mid-November, Wright has been the Kraken's leading scorer. Wright now has 35 points on 13 goals and 22 assists in his last 41 games played for the Kraken, which leads the team over that span.

Gourde – playing in his first game in over two months due to sports hernia surgery – stole the puck from Jake Middleton to keep possession in the offensive zone for Seattle. A blocked Jordan Eberle shot fell right to Brandon Montour for a shot that Gustavsson to make it a 4-3 game with just 11.3 seconds remaining in the period.

"It was a lot of fun to be out there and to play with the guys tonight and enjoy playing hockey again, being at the rink and, yeah, the little stuff of being an NHL player," Gourde said. "It's fun. It was fun to be back."

Gourde, Tanev and Joshua Mahura are set to be unrestricted free agents this summer, which makes possible pieces to be on the move ahead of the deadline. Gourde said there has been some contract extension talks with the Kraken, "but that's all I'm going to say for now," he said.

When it comes to handling the trade deadline, Gourde said he's focused on what he can control.

"I can control showing up tomorrow and working hard and that's all I can control and that's what I'm focused on, and we'll see what happens in the next few days," Gourde said.

A Devin Shore goal for Minnesota early in the third period was successfully challenged by the Kraken as Jakub Lauko was ruled to have played the puck with a high-stick for a missed game stoppage.

The Kraken dominated play in the third period with an 11-1 advantage in shots on net and Daccord was pulled with two minutes left as Seattle pushed for the tying goal. But the tying tally never came as the Wild held on for the win.

"We had a good number of chances, especially as the game went on and we were just coming from behind because of the first period though the rest of the night," Bylsma said.

What's next:

The Kraken head out on a three-game road trip tomorrow with the NHL trade deadline looming on Friday. Seattle will face the Nashville Predators at 5 p.m. PT on Thursday in their final game ahead of the deadline, which falls at noon on Friday.

The Source: Original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.