Kirill Kaprizov scores twice as Wild beat Canucks
Kirill Kaprizov pounced on his own rebound and pushed a loose puck into the back of the Vancouver net to retake the lead just 3:40 into the second period, proving to be the game-winning goal in Minnesota's 2-1 win Thursday night.
Minnesota jumped out to early leads in the first and second periods as Kaprizov scored his 38th and 39th goals of the season. His first tally of the night came just 44 seconds in the game.
"Would we like to score more goals? Would we like someone else to score besides Kirill?" Wild head coach Dean Evason said. "Sure, but we're still not pressing so much that we're giving up odd-man rushes and opportunities the other way. Our patience was real good tonight."
With Kaprizov's star performance, Minnesota stays within three points of Dallas for first in the Central and while pushing themselves three points clear of Colorado, who have three games in hand.
The Wild have won three straight and are 7-0-1 in their last eight games.
Burnsville native, and rumored Wild trade target, Brock Boesser ended Minnesota's streak of power play kills at 27 when he scored a first-period equalizer on a short-handed Wild side 14:03 into the period. The NHL trade deadline strikes at 2 p.m. CST Friday.
The Wild face the Flames Saturday at 9 p.m. in the first game of a home-and-home with Calgary.
