Time is running out on the Seattle Kraken.
With six games left and sitting eight points adrift of a playoff spot, the Kraken (32-33-11, 75 points) are looking for a spark.
Seattle hopes a solution presents itself on Tuesday night when it visits the Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul, Minn.
“It’s not too late right now,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “The hill is large to climb, but you know, we have to put our best foot forward here. We’ve got a few teams to catch.”
The Kraken lost their fifth straight game (0-4-1) with a 6-2 setback to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.
Seattle is 5-13-2 since coming back from the Olympic break. The Kraken are in serious danger of missing the playoffs for the third straight season and the fourth time in the franchise’s five-year history.
Captain Jordan Eberle, who leads the team with a mere 25 goals and 53 points, scored in the loss to Winnipeg. Jared McCann added a goal for Seattle, but Philipp Grubauer was pulled after sustaining a lower-body injury just after the midway point of the second period.
Grubauer allowed three goals on 18 shots before giving way to Joey Daccord, who yielded two goals on 10 shots.
The Kraken were outshot 14-4 in the decisive second period. Trailing 1-0, Winnipeg scored on three straight power-play opportunities spanning the first and second periods.
The poor result had to be frustrating for Lambert, who made a litany of changes to his lineup ahead of the game. He pulled McCann off the top line and also split up his top defensive pairing, Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson.
“What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again with the same poor result,” Lambert said. “We’ve held on as long as we can here.”
Things don’t get any easier for the Kraken, who are 1-4-2 in their last seven road games. They will face a Minnesota team that has clinched a postseason berth for the 12th time in 14 seasons.
The Wild (44-21-12, 100 points) sit just two points behind the Dallas Stars for the second seed in the Central Division, behind Colorado.
Minnesota has won three straight games, including 5-4 at Detroit on Sunday. Kirill Kaprizov had a hat trick, including the game-winning goal on a power play with 1:51 left.
Kaprizov’s 43 goals are tied for third-best in the NHL. He has five goals and two assists during a four-game point streak.
Matt Boldy, second on the team with 41 goals and 81 points, had a goal and an assist as Minnesota overcame squandering a three-goal lead against the Red Wings.
“We have not had that situation for quite a while, where we lose momentum for an extended period like that,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I’m glad it happened, because there are things we can learn from that going forward, and we still found a way to win.”
