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# Kraken Squander Overtime Opportunity After Comeback Against Wild
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/seattle-kraken-minnesota-wild-squander-overtime-opportunity/
- Published: 2026-01-09T07:04:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:16:26.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Kraken, Lane Lambert, Chandler Stephenson, Philipp Grubauer, Matty Beniers, Ryker Evans, Jordan Eberle, Vince Dunn, Berkly Catton, Jared McCann, Adam Larsson

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="5380"\]

![  Seattle Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer (31) tracks the puck in the third period against the Minnesota Wild at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/usatsi_27965348-format-original-2.jpg)

Seattle Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer (31) tracks the puck in the third period against the Minnesota Wild at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

SEATTLE, Wash. - Much like their opponents who rolled through Climate Pledge Arena in the first half of December, the Seattle Kraken executed a third-period comeback against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, overcoming a 2-0 deficit entering the final frame to force overtime.

However, after earning themselves the opportunity to get the extra standings point and extend their win streak to five, Seattle failed to control possession and eventually got caught by Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello on an odd-man rush, the latter beating Philipp Grubauer at 2:09 of overtime to secure a 3-2 win.

“I thought the start of the game was poor, and I didn’t like our end to the game either,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “So we have to be ready to go. Wasn’t good enough to start, and you have to play 60 minutes.”

Traditionally a team that possesses the puck well in the extra period, the Kraken found themselves behind the eight-ball immediately after the Wild won the opening faceoff. Minnesota forward Matt Boldy shot just wide on a couple attempts in the first 30 seconds. 

After Seattle gained possession, Chandler Stephenson turned it over in the neutral zone, which led to three shots on goal — one from Quinn Hughes, two from Kaprizov — which Grubauer fended off.

The Kraken nearly turned the puck over in their own zone again before regrouping, and Matty Beniers — who scored the tying goal in the third period — charged up the ice as Lambert exchanged personnel around him.

Rather than waiting for the full line change to prioritize possession, Beniers went straight towards the net without any teammate support. Boldy promptly won back possession for Minnesota. 

By the time the Kraken got the puck back, Ryker Evans’ attempted centering pass to Beniers got snuffed out by Wild defenseman Brock Faber, which allowed Kaprizov and Zuccarello to jump out on a 2-on-1, and that was the game.

Afterwards, Beniers chalked it up to Minnesota simply out-possessing them.

“I thought we had our opportunities to go and try to score and end that game,” Beniers said. “Sometimes they’re gonna have the puck a little bit more, and sometimes we are. … We’re obviously trying to make them. Just didn’t succeed.” 

Lambert had a different view, citing the Kraken’s success at possessing the puck in overtime throughout the season, and how tonight the players on the ice didn’t prioritize that. Or at least one player in particular.

“Tonight, we gave it back to them,” Lambert said. “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, you know, and then we didn't execute on a 2-on-1, so that overtime was not one of our better ones.”

The ‘we’ in this case refers to Beniers, who made a decision with the puck that ultimately played a large role in deciding the game.

Also different about Thursday’s overtime for the Kraken was their deployment, since usual ‘OT starter’ Jordan Eberle was ruled out with an upper-body injury prior to game-time. The Emerald City Spectrum spotted the Seattle captain emerging from the locker room area with some type of medical tape wrapped around his hand. Lambert classified his injury as “day-to-day,” and expects him to travel on the upcoming road trip.

With Eberle out, Lambert opted to roll out Berkly Catton alongside Stephenson and Vince Dunn to start the 3-on-3.

“He’s a dynamic player,” Lambert said of Catton. “It’s a 3-on-3 situation, so we decided to go with him.”

The thing to look for now is how much ice time Beniers will receive in the next overtime situation. That said, the Kraken also wouldn’t be in that position without him.

Protecting a 2-1 lead in the third period, Minnesota committed a pair of minor penalties 1:59 apart from each other, giving Seattle nearly four minutes of continuous power-play time. They only needed 2:18.

After failing to convert on the first one, Beniers’ rebound attempt on a Jared McCann shot got blocked away by Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon at 8:54, but he got a second chance just 13 seconds later.

Once again, McCann fired on net, and Beniers positioned himself perfectly in the slot to fire the rebounding puck past Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt to tie it 2-2 at 9:07.

“We knew we needed one there,” Beniers said. “We had some good looks and chances on the first one, and then we were able to get the second one just off a shot rebound, and that’s how goals go in from the inside. They’re not always pretty, passing power-play goals. A lot of them are just tips or traffic at net, shots, rebounds, things like that.”

Seattle got on the board at 3:13 of the third period after Dunn’s shot off the post rebounded to Adam Larsson at the opposite point, and the 33-year-old right-shot fired it through to cut the deficit to 2-1.

It directly followed the Kraken’s strong ending to the second period. After putting just one shot on goal through the first 15:31 of the frame, ceding the majority of possession to the Wild, Seattle put five shots on goal in the final 4:29 of the period.

“When you’re throwing pucks at the net, shots are creating shots,” Dunn said. “When I shoot the puck there, it almost goes in and then it bounces the other way, and then we get another chance and it goes in. … It’s good to see guys get selfish and throw them on net.”

Lambert considered the final seven or eight minutes of the second the team’s best part of the game, citing a better forecheck and overall energy level which carried into the third, but after falling behind early in the first period and squandering their chance late, the Kraken need to regroup.

Seattle kept its point streak alive (8-0-2), but does not want to fall into bad habits entering a five-game road trip.

“It was a big comeback to push for the point,” Dunn said. “And I think just the atmosphere after the game, you can see a lot of heads not hanging, which is nice to see. Obviously the result didn’t go our way, but I think overall, the way we’re playing right now, we need to just kind of roll with our confidence and put this one behind us.”