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Another 3-point play from Kirill Kaprizov, another Wild Road win in Anaheim: 5 takeaways

by November 9, 2024

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Although the Minnesota Wild took their foot off the gas in the second period due to poor puck management and then went to the penalty box in the third period, they took a three-goal lead in the first period and then got the equalizer. They were great goaltenders and were buoyed by a solid penalty kill to improve to 7-1-1 on the road with a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.

It was the Wild’s eighth straight road win in Anaheim and their 16th victory over the Ducks in the last 18 meetings.

“Maybe today wasn’t the best example of a great game, but good teams turn these games into wins, too,” said Filip Gustavsson, who made seven of his 32 saves in the Wild’s 6-on-6 penalty shootout.

Kirill Kaprizov entered Thursday’s game 4 points behind Nathan MacKinnon and led the league. With two wins in 24 hours, Kaprizov is now ahead with 27 points in 14 games, thanks to 6 points in consecutive wins.

One game after posting three assists with the San Jose Sharks, Kaprizov recorded his fifth 3-pointer in his last eight games with two goals and one assist.

Jake Middleton, Marcus Foligno and Marco Rossi also scored for the Wild, who spent the night in Southern California and will fly to Chicago late Saturday morning. They visit the Blackhawks, who have won once at home in five games, on Sunday night.

“The difference in the game was goaltending, penalty killing and opportunistic scoring,” coach John Hynes said. “I think we won the score, but I don’t necessarily think we outplayed the other team. And that happens sometimes. You have to find new ways every night. And tonight we showed a very good goalkeeping performance. The penalty kill was great throughout the game, but obviously came at a critical point in the third period. … The most important thing for me is that you find ways to win, sometimes even when you’re not at your best. And that’s exactly what we did tonight.”

Road warriors once again

The Wild are the best away team in the NHL. They scored three goals in the first period, bringing their total to twelve goals in the league. They have scored first in seven of nine away games, leading the NHL. They also lead the NHL with 37 away goals.

“We had to be a better starting team (than last season), and we showed that in the opening games,” Foligno said. “We seem to get the first goal a lot and that always helps. That wasn’t the case last year. At the moment we’re looking at this as a way to get going and if we come back home solidly after being away for so long and finish in the standings then we can build some confidence from that and that’s what we have now. ”

Kaprizov continues to climb the charts

With a goal in the first period and a goal in the third period as well as an assist, Kaprizov took the league lead. He scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season, passing Matt Boldy for the team lead and recording his league-leading tenth multi-point game.

He has scored multiple points in eight consecutive away games. The last player with a longer tenure was Wayne Gretzky (nine games in the 1990-91 season).

During his eight-game road point streak, Kaprizov scored six goals and 20 points. His road point streak is the third longest in team history. Joel Eriksson Ek and Eric Staal each had 10-game road point streaks.

Kaprizov also leads the NHL with 19 points at even strength. Interestingly, Kaprizov’s agent Paul Theofanous was in attendance at both games and exchanged pleasantries with owner Craig Leipold and president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin after Friday’s game. Kaprizov is eligible for what is sure to be a huge extension on July 1st.

“He drives our team,” Foligno said. “Their horses have to run, and like MacKinnon does for his team, if he’s not there every night, it’s usually not a great night for the Colorado Avalanche. So it’s no different. He is our star player and if he leaves, the whole bench will have to change.”

Gaudreau continues his strong play

Freddy Gaudreau is on the rise after coming off a season in which he scored 15 points and was minus-23 in 67 games. Since moving from fourth-line right wing to third-line center midfield, Gaudreau has shown solid two-way play. In addition to winning big faceoffs and being a strong defensive player, he extended his career points and assists streak to six games with his assist on Foligno’s goal in the first period.

“I’m just trying to do my job,” Gaudreau said. “Points, it comes or it doesn’t. It’s the nature of the game and at the moment they are coming but we are winning. That’s all I care about, to be honest. We’ve won a lot recently and I’m proud of that. I pride myself on making a smart play that no one sees, but when you know the game you understand that those plays can make a difference.”

Gaudreau was one of the Wild’s best breakout players, and Foligno’s goal for a 2-0 lead was a good example.

“Right now he’s done a really good job in the middle,” Hynes said. “I see the point of hockey. I think he looks faster and more explosive. I think his ability to move pucks up the ice from the D-zone… he was one of our best centermen on breakouts, he was just kind of like a third D-man where we can send pucks up the middle and he can send them receives .

“His puck-fighting level is much higher. He wins her. I think he goes into the game with the mindset of winning puck battles. I can think of a lot of things where people have talked about his batting ability in tight areas and his ability to make plays in tight areas, and (he) is just a more focused guy in those areas.”

Thanks to the penalty shootout, Wild finally wins a game

The Wild ranked 30th in the league in penalties last season. Through 12 games, the Wild have killed just 62.5 percent of opponent power plays, and they entered the trip having allowed a power play goal on six of their previous 11 chances.

But they are 9-for-9 in two wins in San Jose and Anaheim, including 6-for-6 on Friday. They had to be outstanding in the third period, scoring a Boldy penalty followed by Zach Bogosian’s double minor for a high stick.

“Honestly, it felt like we had to finish the game just because the minutes were tighter and more intense, and I think we just kind of – not a little bit loose, but we needed something to get the adrenaline going somehow to bring momentum,” said Foligno. “It was great to see the guys working hard and blocking shots. And obviously Gus had, I think, two really big one-timer saves.”

Khusnutdinov was promoted, Rossi was briefly demoted

It’s not sure what the cause and effect was, whether it was Marat Khusnutdinov’s solid play the last two nights or Rossi’s inconsistent play at times. But in the second period, when Hynes was unhappy with the Wild’s puck management and Rossi struck out on the power play and missed a potential one-time goal, Khusnutdinov was promoted to play with Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello and Rossi was dropped to the fourth line with Jakub Lauko and Yakov Trenin.

“The last two nights I thought Marat was a factor in the game,” Hynes explained. “He was very competitive. I think his puck battles and things like that were very good both nights. And so I just looked at it a little bit in a different way to get a little bit more ice cream.”

The Wild had to take a penalty early in the third period, so after Khusnutdinov’s PK shift, Rossi returned to his line and played with Kaprizov and Zuccarello for the remainder of the period. He finished the game with a goal and an assist.

(Photo: Jessica Alcheh / Imagn Images)

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