The Wild finished their 2023-24 season on Thursday with a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken at Xcel Energy Center.
Were they simply another NHL team not good enough to make the playoffs, or were they the team that remained in the playoff race until a week left in regular season despite a crushing 5-10-4 start and a long series of injuries to key contributors?
Were they the 20th-best team in the 32-team NHL, as the final standings indicate, or were they the team that, despite $14.7 million in dead cap space, stabilized to finish 34-24-5 under coach John Hynes, who replaced Dean Evason on Nov. 28.
In the immediate wake of their 82-game season, the easy answer is yes. The Wild were all of those teams this season, a group that despite never really playing at full strength was able to beat some of the NHL’s best, yet was never able to seal the deal when it got within spitting distance of a playoff spot.
Kirill Kaprizov gave Minnesota a 1-0, first-period lead with his 46th goal of the season, but the Wild were never able to add to it and the Kraken got a pair of short-handed goals from Yanni Gourde — the second a breakaway empty-netter with 1:36 left in regulation to seal it.
Mats Zuccarello tied the score 2-2 after beating Joey Daccord high on a breakaway with 9:47 left in regulation, but Seattle took a 3-2 lead on Tye Kartye’s deflection past Marc-Andre Fleury with 2:40 remaining.
After Gourde’s empty netter with 1:44 left, Fleury was pulled again and Ryan Hartman deflected a shot from Brock Faber past Daccord to make it 4-3 with 1:05 left.
Kaprizov’s power play goal was his 19th, extending his Wild single-season record to 19. His 46th goal of the season left him one shy of the franchise high he set in 2022-23.
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