Minnesota beat Columbus 3-2 in overtime in the NHL regular season. All of the Wild’s goals have been scored by Russian striker Kirill Kaprizov. He was recognized as the first star of the game, and later – of the entire NHL game day.
Kaprizov entered the league’s top 5 snipers
In fact, Kirill Kaprizov shot unrealistically in a match with Columbus (3:2 OT). What is most striking is that he spent 25:36 minutes on the ice. More equal than Minnesota defensemen – closest in playing time was Jared Spurgeon (24:05).
At the same time, Kaprizov did not hesitate to work in power. So he had four hits in a game, two blocks, fought for the puck, got under the skin of Blue Jackets point guard Johnny Gaudreau.
And also – eight shots on target, 15 shots overall and a natural hat-trick as Minnesota trailed 0:2, but in the third period Kaprizov scored first, five minutes later – the second, then scored in overtime.
In short, it was magical.
“Maybe Kaprizov is the hardest working superstar in the world,” said rookie Calen Addison, who passed Kirill in the dying seconds of extra time and helped him score the No. 37 goal. beats on the boards like no other, doesn’t lose a single skirmish. I mean, he does everything for us.
Yes, it should be noted that Kaprizov is good this season in principle. He is fifth on the league’s leading scorers list (37), behind only Mikko Rantanen (38), Tage Thompson (40), David Pastrnak (42), Connor McDavid (48). At the same time, Kirill has recently established himself among Russian snipers, overtaking Alexander Ovechkin (33).
But this match with Columbus, of course, is apart. As Minnesota head coach Dean Evason said, “That’s probably the best performance from Kaprizov we’ve seen.”
“I could literally keep him on the ice the whole game. Third period and overtime for sure,” Evason said. And it all depends on his mentality. We always say that the team comes first. Here we had a neutral zone interception, and Kaprizov wanted to go on the ice to replace the guy when he and Zukki (Mats Zuccarello) were on the field. I said no.” But Kaprizov replied that he wanted to leave. That’s what he’s aiming for. He has a burning desire not only to score, but also to win. He does everything for the team.
“I don’t feel like I’m scoring many goals”
And here is what Kirill Kaprizov himself said after the game.
– It’s a special day for you, what happened to get a hat-trick?
— I can’t say that in my career there have been matches where there were more or fewer chances. Sometimes you score, sometimes you don’t. But no matter how good the game is, it’s just a game. Yes, I had a hat-trick. But we must see further, this season, all the most interesting await us.
– Do you think that in the Wild a lot depends on you, and it’s not just that they give you 25 minutes on the ice? Even the defenders don’t get much playing time!
— No, we have the whole team playing. Everyone is working hard, they also want to score. Here’s how it works. Well, scoring goals is my job. And I’m only happy when it turns out it’s done right. I am not a fan of when only me is singled out. I agree that we have team actions. The principle is simple: the team loses, the team also wins.
– What kind of skirmishes did you have the whole game with Johnny Gaudreau?
– I don’t know, such moments happen in individual games. And it doesn’t matter which hockey players participate in such episodes. It’s just a moment of play.
– You can score more than 40 goals in this league, but in general there is a chance that you can even score fifty. Why is it like this this season?
“I don’t feel like I score a lot of goals. Because during the season in every game, it happens that you score one or two points. There is no such straight tree, some kind of series So I don’t focus on scoring a lot myself. For me, the main thing is to play my hockey every day, to help my partners.
But today, you were on a roll.
– It’s good that there are days when you feel good, create many chances to score. And the most important thing is that your team wins. And in general, I can’t say that it was my best game of my career. I just go out on the ice and do my job.
NHL. Regular season
Minnesota Wild (St. Paul) – Columbus Blue Jackets (Columbus) – 3:2 OT (0:1, 0:1, 2:0, 1:0)
Goals: Kaprizov, 41:15, 46:00 (bol.), 64:40. — Olivier, 4:20 p.m. Foodie, 11:04 p.m.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
