Kaprizov Strikes 26 Seconds In, Wild Rout Kraken 5-1

Kirill Kaprizov buried a backhand just 26 seconds into the game, and Minnesota never looked back, finishing with a 5-1 road win over Seattle on October 25. The Wild scored four times in the second period alone to turn a tied game into a blowout.

Twenty-six seconds. That's all it took for Minnesota to announce its intentions. Kaprizov's backhand — his 12th goal of the season, set up by Joel Eriksson Ek and Quinn Hughes — gave the Wild an immediate edge and set the tone for a dominant performance. Seattle answered back at 10:13 of the first when Berkly Catton converted a wrist shot off assists from Kaapo Kakko and Brandon Montour to tie it at one, and for a moment it looked like the Kraken might be able to hang around. They couldn't.

The second period was where this game was decided. Blake Coleman put Minnesota back in front at 2:11 with a wrist shot, his third of the year. Then Olli Maatta — picking up his first goal of the season — made it 3-1 at 11:33. Less than 90 seconds later, at 13:00, Eriksson Ek capped a sharp sequence by converting a wrist shot assisted by Matt Boldy and Kaprizov, pushing the lead to 4-1. Three goals in under 11 minutes of the middle frame. Seattle's night was effectively over before the second intermission. The story of the night was Minnesota's second period — relentless, efficient, and completely suffocating for a Kraken team that couldn't generate anything meaningful after Catton's equalizer.

Joey Daccord made 31 saves on 35 shots for Seattle — a respectable workload, but he was left exposed repeatedly and the Wild converted when it mattered. On the other end, Jesper Wallstedt was nearly untouchable, stopping 22 of 23 shots for Minnesota. Coleman added an unassisted empty-netter at 16:24 of the third to close it at 5-1 and put a tidy bow on the evening. Coleman finished with two goals and two points; Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek each posted a goal and an assist for two points apiece. This looks like a Minnesota team firing on all cylinders — deep scoring, a goaltender who barely broke a sweat, and the kind of road performance that makes opponents uncomfortable for weeks.