Zuccarello has goal, assist, Wild hold off Kraken

SEATTLE — Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist, and the Minnesota Wild held on for a 4-3 win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

“It was a great 30 minutes and then a bad 30 minutes,” Zuccarello said. “We got the two points. ... First half was ours, second half was theirs, and we still found a way to win.”

Frederick Gaudreau and Jared Spurgeon also had a goal and an assist each, and Marcus Johansson had two assists for the Wild (36-22-4), who have won their past two. Filip Gustavsson made 33 saves.

“It feels good," Minnesota coach John Hynes said. "I thought there were a lot of twists and turns in the game tonight. Sometimes you’re going to get those, but to find a way to win it is the most important thing.”

Adam Larsson, Shane Wright, and Brandon Montour scored, and Kaapo Kakko had two assists for the Kraken (26-32-4), who have lost three of four. Joey Daccord allowed four goals on 20 shots.

“I thought there was a lot of good [in our game],” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “I just felt the puck went in a little too easily for various reasons at the beginning of the game.”

Vinnie Hinostroza made it 1-0 for Minnesota at 12:27 of the first period, redirecting Zuccarello’s shot from the left dot past Daccord’s blocker for a power-play goal.

“I don’t want to say it’s close to goaltender interference, because obviously we didn’t challenge it,” Bylsma said. “We pushed the guy’s stick into Joey’s pad and caught his pad didn’t allow him to make the save.”

Larsson tied it 1-1 at 16:40 during a delayed penalty. With Daccord pulled for an extra attacker, Larsson one-timed a Kakko feed from the blue line off the crossbar and in behind Gustavsson.

Spurgeon gave the Wild a 2-1 lead at 18:23. Using Hinostroza and Seattle defenseman Josh Mahura as a screen, he banked a wrist shot from the right circle off the far post and in.

“That’s how you need to be able to score, and as the season continues to go forward, that netfront presence is going to be important,” Hynes said.

Gaudreau pushed it to 3-1 at 1:41 of the second period when his intended pass for Zuccarello at the top of the crease deflected in off Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak’s skate.

“I’m just trying to play my game and be in the right spots,” Gaudreau said. “I’ve always believed in playing good defensively, and from there we create our offense, and it’s been going that way lately.”

Zuccarello extended the lead to 4-1 at 8:22, finishing a give-and-go with Johansson with a one-timer from the right circle into an open net behind Daccord.

“It was fun,” Zuccarello said. “We made some plays, and I think that’s the huge difference. In the first half, we made plays, and I don’t know why, but they get a goal, and then I think we stopped, as a team, making plays.”

Wright cut it to 4-2 with a power-play goal at 14:10, one-timing Oliver Bjorkstrand’s seam pass over Gustavsson’s glove from the left circle.

“I’m just trying to shoot the puck,” Wright said. “If I get in the scoring area, I just want to get it on net, and I just kind of see a spot, I’m shooting it. I’m just trying to shoot the puck more, trying to score, and I was able to find one there.”

Montour got Seattle to within 4-3 at 19:48 of the second. Jordan Eberle’s shot from the top of the right circle was blocked and skipped out to Montour, who scored with a slap shot over Gustavsson's right pad from the top of the left circle.

“We’ll take the two points, and we’ll also take some good lessons out of this one,” Hynes said.

NOTES: The Wild earned their League-leading 22nd road win of the season. Minnesota is just two wins shy of matching its franchise record for road victories in a season (24 in 2014-15). … Kraken forward Yanni Gourde had an assist and two shots on goal in 12:53 of ice time in his first game since Jan. 2. Gourde missed 22 games after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia.