Kaprizov scores twice on power play to help Wild take series lead

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov missed half of the regular season with a lingering lower-body injury that kept him out until just before the NHL playoffs began as the Minnesota Wild barely got in.

He’s fully recovered now. His team clearly is, too.

Kaprizov had had two power-play goals to help the Wild beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 on Thursday night for a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

“He’s such an energy giver,” Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson said. “Just his skill plays, his dangles or anything like that, finding passes that people don’t see. It’s building from the bench and out on the ice there, just everyone feels more energy to try going and going.”

Matt Boldy scored for the third straight game, Marco Rossi had his first career postseason goal and Marcus Foligno added an empty-netter for the Wild, who carried the momentum of a 5-2 road victory in Game 2 into the raucous Xcel Energy Center and kept it up all night.

Boldy and Kaprizov share the NHL playoffs lead with four goals. They’ve combined for 13 points, further flashing the prowess of the Wild’s first line. Their top three forwards combined for 17 shots on goal, including center Joel Eriksson Ek, who Kaprizov raved about afterward.

“He did so much, especially faceoffs and net front and so many dirty pucks,” Kaprizov said. “He always won battles and played so hard.”

Nobody on the first line for the Golden Knights — Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel and Mark Stone — has yet to even record a point.

Game 4 is in Minnesota on Saturday.

Gustavsson’s glove stayed sharp in the net on a 30-save night for the Wild, who took an early 2-0 lead before Alex Pietrangelo scored on a long slap shot a little later in the first period for Vegas. Reilly Smith’s short-handed goal with 8:26 remaining was the only other puck that got past Gustavsson, who was blown away by the crowd noise in the closing minutes.

“It’s very fun. You can’t hear anything,” Gustavsson said.

The fans were roaring from the start, when a too-many-men penalty on Vegas gave the home team the man advantage just 2:46 into the game.

Kaprizov cycled behind the net, came up top and — after a slight fake to his left to make Smith pause for a split-second — wristed a shot through the defense for the lead. Wild rookie Zeev Buium got the first assist for his first career postseason point.

With just two seconds left in the second period on another power play for Minnesota, Ryan Hartman’s shot hit Kaprizov in the chest before knocking it past goalie Adin Hill for a 4-1 lead.

Hill was pulled after two periods with 17 saves, yielding to Akira Shmid for the third. Hill, who stopped only 12 shots in Game 2, didn’t have the best protection in front of him.

Boldy scored to give the Wild a 3-1 lead midway through the second period after outworking Noah Hanifin for the puck behind the net, slicing toward the net and snapping a shot into the top corner past Hill.

The Golden Knights outhit the Wild 42-26, won 58% of the faceoffs and largely controlled the pace and possession, but the Pacific Division champions who finished with the third-best regular season record in the league were hardly rewarded for their effort.

“You’re going into the room as a team and you’re like, ‘We’re down 4-1 after that period? Like, what the hell just happened?’” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “But that’s hockey some nights. You’ve got to regroup. You create your own breaks. They did.”

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