The Wild’s first-round playoff series against Vegas is tied, 1-1, headed into Game 3 on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center. In the battle of top lines, however, Minnesota has been the clear winner so far.
And if you’re a Wild fan or don’t have a horse in this race, it’s been fun to watch.
In Game 2 on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena, Kaprizov sent a floater from the top of his own left circle to a streaking Boldy, who leveled it off just in front of the blue line before scoring on a breakaway to put the Wild up 1-0 and set the tone for a 5-2 Minnesota victory.
Asked Wednesday where that pass might rank on plays he has seen Kaprizov make, Wild blue liner Brock Faber said, “One, I think.”
“That was incredible. An incredible play — an incredible handle by Bolds, too,” he continued. “Just the whole play, fun to watch, for sure.”
Not for Knights coach Bruce Cassidy, who used some of his postgame press conference late Tuesday to send a message to his top line of Brett Eichel, Brett Howden and Matt Stone, which combined for 70 goals and 201 points for a Knights team that won the Pacific Division with 110 points.
Through two games, however, they have a combined two points on a pair of goals by Howden.
“They’re elite, world-class players and they’ve got to get going,” Cassidy said. “The other teams’ top guys are all over the sheet. You know it’s time.”
The Wild’s top line of Kaprizov, Boldly and center Joel Eriksson Ek, meanwhile, has combined for five goals, nine points, 16 shots on goal and 15 hits so far. This is a major development for the Wild, who white-knuckled it into the postseason while Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek recovered from lower-body injuries.
They missed so many games — 77 combined — that Wild coaches were hesitant to put them on the same line when they returned before the penultimate game of the regular season. Ultimately, coach John Hynes didn’t want to break up Mats Zuccarello, Freddy Gaudreau and Marcus Johansson.
“That’s why we made the decision to start the series like that,” Hynes said.
With two goals and three assists, Kaprizov was tied for the NHL lead with five playoff points Wednesday when Minnesota flew back to the Twin Cities. Boldly has three goals and an assist. Eriksson Ek doesn’t have a point, but his typically heavy game has created space for his linemates.
“The bottom line with those three is they’re all very talented, they’re tenacious competitors and they’re playing the game that’s required to win,” Hynes said. “They’re playing north, they’re heavy on pucks, they’re playing in the offensive zone. When they have opportunities to turn plays, like last night, they have the skills to make it.”
The Knights’ top line has been relatively quiet.
“It’s early,” Cassidy said. “I have all the faith in the world in those guys. And that gets over-analyzed early in a series, too. The other night, Jack had a breakaway, Stoney was in all alone. … They just didn’t finish the other night.”
“Tonight,” he added, “less so.”
Playing with Jonathan Marchessault — now in Nashville — and Ivan Barbashev, Eichel had a team-high 26 points in 22 postseason games when the Knights won the 2023 Stanley Cup. Stone had 24, and Barbashev 18.
“No one cares what we did two years ago. Nobody cares,” Cassidy said. “They respect us for what we did, they don’t care now. There are 16 teams that want the trophy and they’re hungry. Every year that starts in the playoffs.
“So, some of our guys have got to realize we started Sunday here, so get hungry, get competitive.”
Faber acknowledged the Wild have done a good job against that top line so far, and that Minnesota’s top line has been great. But he also acknowledged that can change.
“There’s no secret way to go about it,” he said. “They’re going to do everything that can to stop 97, 12 and 14, and sometimes you’re able to do that, sometimes you’re not.
“We have our matches and we have our game plans and tendencies that we look for. We’ve done a really good job so far. There’s been bad shifts; there’s been great shifts. That’s just all part of hockey, the ebbs and flows of it.”
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