Maybe it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock that the Wild have dismantled the Vegas Golden Knights over the past couple of games while turning a 1-0 series deficit into a 2-1 series lead.
Not when the Wild have winger Kirill Kaprizov, who has been the best player on either team, dominating pretty much every time he hops over the boards.
Frankly, the only other player that has rivaled Kaprizov’s impact to this point is winger Matt Boldy, which makes sense considering they are both flanking center Joel Eriksson Ek on the top line.
The best news for the Wild heading into a matchup with the Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center? It seems as if Kaprizov is only getting stronger.
Whether it was the pair of assists in Game 1, the pair of goals in Game 2, the pair of goals in Game 3 or any of the other little plays in between, Kaprizov has risen to the occasion when the Wild have needed him most.
Not that anybody should be surprised by this level of production.
It wasn’t too long ago that Kaprizov was viewed as a frontrunner for the Hart Trophy after scoring 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists) through the opening 34 games. His outstanding play in the early stages of this season had the Wild looking very much like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Everything changed when Kaprizov suffered a lower body injury right around Christmas that eventually required surgery and forced him to miss 40 games in total. Not only did that significantly alter the trajectory of this season for Kaprizov, it forced the Wild to scratch and claw their way to simply get into the playoffs.
Fortunately for the Wild, Kaprizov was cleared to return to the lineup about a week and a half before the playoffs started, which allowed him to log a few games to get his legs back underneath him.
Though there was never truly any concern about Kaprizov’s conditioning when he stepped back on the ice, head coach John Hynes acknowledged the importance of getting him some puck touches before the playoffs.
“There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to come back physically fit and ready to go,” Hynes said. “There is a difference of getting back into the flow and the structure of how we want to play so that it becomes automatic.”
After knocking off some of the rust that built up during his absence, Kaprizov is shining once again, and his reemergence has made the Wild dangerous. It’s not so much that he’s stuffing the stat sheet; he’s also playing with the attention to detail “that’s required to win,” Hynes said.
“If there’s a play to be made, he’s making it,” the coach added. “There’s nothing forced. That (top) line has been tenacious.”
It goes beyond the intangibles, however, when talking about Kaprizov’s game. There is something magical about him when he’s at the peak of his powers. It feels like something special could happen anytime the puck is on his stick.
There have already been some examples of that in the playoffs.
How about the incredible saucer pass that Kaprizov delivered to Boldy in Game 2? How about the near 200-foot empty-net goal from Kaprizov that slammed the door shut? How about the buzzer-beater from Kaprizov at a pivotal moment in Game 3?
This isn’t some random player catching lightning in a bottle; this is a superstar taking the next step in his career.
Never mind that so much time away from the game ultimately cost Kaprizov a chance at winning the Hart Trophy. He still has a pretty good shot at the Conn Smythe Trophy if the Wild can go on a run. That Hart Trophy can wait.
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