Seattle Kraken vs. Minnesota Wild Pick & Prediction DECEMBER 10th 2023

The Minnesota Wild got a bump when John Hynes took over as head coach in late November, winning their first four games.

But the schedule-makers haven’t done Hynes and the Wild any favors this week.

The Wild will wrap up a stretch of four games in six days on the road Sunday night in Seattle.

After winning 5-2 Tuesday in Calgary, the Wild dropped a 2-0 decision Thursday in Vancouver, then a night later lost 4-3 at Edmonton.

“I didn’t have any problem with the effort,” Hynes said after Friday’s loss. “I thought we were up against it coming into the game, and that’s what the schedule is. … But I really liked the compete and the battle that we had.”

Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist, and Joel Eriksson Ek and Connor Dewar also tallied for the Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots.

“It’s not an excuse, but it was a tough back-to-back,” Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton said. “But we played for a full 60 (minutes). … We gave ourselves a chance at the end. We were in it until the final buzzer.”

Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin was knocked out of the game early in the third period after being checked into the boards by Edmonton’s Evander Kane on an unpenalized play.

“Brods is a huge part of our team, a difference-maker, he plays so many minutes, so many good minutes against top lines,” forward Ryan Hartman said. “Obviously, that stinks. It’s part of the game. We have a tight-knit group that sticks up for each other.

“Obviously, it could have gone different ways, match penalty, whatever it is, but sometimes it doesn’t go that way. It is what it is.”

Seattle will be playing its second game in as many nights after a 4-3 overtime loss Saturday against visiting Tampa Bay.

The Kraken have lost seven in a row (0-5-2), though they took their first lead during the skid when Jared McCann scored on the power play 14 seconds into the third to make it 3-2.

The Lightning tied it and Nikita Kucherov, the league’s leading point producer, tallied in OT.

“I mean, it’s obviously difficult,” Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said of the losing streak. “It can get kind of frustrating at times. … It’s kind of a matter of looking at the positives and seeing what you can take away and get better at as a group. There’s a lot of hockey to be played.”

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer kept the Kraken in the game by stopping 21 of 23 shots, but suffered an apparent lower-body injury while stopping a short-handed, two-on-one rush in the closing seconds of the second period and didn’t return for the third.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said Grubauer would be evaluated in the next couple of days, which means Joey Daccord likely will get the start against Minnesota.

Just something else for the Kraken to overcome, with forwards Jaden Schwartz and Andre Burakovsky already out with injuries.

“Obviously, we have some injuries and some guys playing hurt,” Kraken forward Jordan Eberle said. “But our depth has been key and we need to bear down. These times are tough. We’ve got to find a way to get out of (the skid) and flip the script.”

–Field Level Media