The Minnesota Wild have caught fire at just the right time—and they’re riding it to a 2-1 series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the NHL Western Conference Playoffs.
Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild’s franchise cornerstone who missed nearly half the regular season with a lingering lower-body injury, continued his dazzling postseason resurgence with two power-play goals to help lift Minnesota to a 5-2 victory in Game 3 at a raucous Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night.
Kaprizov’s return to full health has seemingly rejuvenated a Wild team that barely scraped into the playoffs. Now, with Kaprizov leading the charge and fully in rhythm, they’ve stunned the defending champions with back-to-back 5-2 wins.
“He’s just a game-changer,” Wild head coach Dean Evason said postgame. “This is the Kirill we missed all year.”
Matt Boldy extended his goal streak to three games and shares the NHL postseason lead in goals (4) with Kaprizov. The two have combined for 13 points in the series and continue to set the tone from the Wild’s top line, which was dominant again in Game 3. Center Joel Eriksson Ek added to the trio’s firepower with relentless pressure and drew rave reviews from Kaprizov afterward.
“Joel does so much. He wins pucks, gets to the tough areas, and makes it easier for us,” Kaprizov said. “We feed off him.”
Rookie Marco Rossi added his first career playoff goal, and Marcus Foligno sealed the win with an empty-netter. Rookie defenseman Zeev Buium also recorded his first playoff point with an assist on Kaprizov’s opening goal just 2:46 into the game. That goal came off a too-many-men penalty by Vegas, giving Minnesota an early power play, which Kaprizov took full advantage of with a slick move and wrist shot through traffic.
The Wild struck again late in the second period, when a Ryan Hartman shot deflected off Kaprizov’s chest and in, giving Minnesota a commanding 4-1 lead with just two seconds left in the frame.
Matt Boldy’s second-period goal—an impressive individual effort after outworking Noah Hanifin behind the net—gave the Wild a 3-1 cushion at the time, continuing his breakout postseason campaign.
Filip Gustavsson remained steady between the pipes, making 30 saves and withstanding a late push from Vegas. The only goals he allowed came on a long first-period slap shot by Alex Pietrangelo and a shorthanded effort from Reilly Smith with 8:26 left in regulation.
Despite outhitting the Wild 42-26, winning 58% of the faceoffs, and controlling much of the pace and possession, the Golden Knights couldn’t find the finishing touch. Vegas’ top line of Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel, and Mark Stone remains scoreless through three games—a glaring contrast to Minnesota’s red-hot top trio.
“We’ve had zone time, but not enough execution,” said Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy. “They’ve capitalized. We haven’t.”
Vegas starting goalie Adin Hill was pulled after two periods, finishing with 17 saves. He’s now allowed eight goals on 41 shots over the past two games. Akira Schmid came on in relief for the third period.
The Wild now look to take full control of the series in Game 4 on Saturday night, again on home ice. And with Kaprizov and Boldy surging—and the crowd in St. Paul feeding their energy—Minnesota is looking every bit the dangerous sleeper they hoped they’d become.
“We know we can play with anyone,” said Boldy. “We’re just getting started.”
