Kaprizov has 2 goals, assist, Boldy scores again for Minnesota
Wild at Golden Knights | Recap | Round 1, Game 2
LAS VEGAS — Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 5-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
The best-of-7 series is tied at 1-1. Game 3 will be in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FDSNNO, SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TBS, TVAS2, SN360).
Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist, and Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves for the Wild, who are the first wild card from the Western Conference.
“From a competitive level, we were where we needed to be,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “But the big part is boys under pressure, playing smart, understanding how to manage those certain things, and I thought we did a fairly good job of that tonight. They had some strong pushes, and we got some timely saves when we needed them.”
MIN@VGK, Gm2: Kaprizov fires a shot on the rush that sneaks in
Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl scored, and Adin Hill made 12 saves for the Golden Knights, who are the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division.
“We started the game really well,” Hanifin said. “They were pretty opportunistic on some of their chances, and we got behind. But it’s a learning curve for us. We can just learn from that game and move on. I thought the second and third periods, I know we were down, but I thought that was our type of game. We controlled the play and had a lot of chances, just couldn’t quite come all the way back.”
Boldy gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 9:56 of the first period. He took a stretch pass from Kaprizov, held off Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore and scored five-hole on Hill on a partial breakaway.
“That might have been the best pass I’ve ever seen,” Boldy said. “Like, I didn’t have to do much. He’s a special player, obviously. You see all the plays he makes, how hard he works, but for him to have the poise and to make that pass right on my tape, it was unbelievable.”
MIN@VGK, Gm2: Boldy fires home a shot to start the scoring
Marcus Foligno pushed it to 2-0 at 11:35, scoring from the top of the crease off a centering pass from Ryan Hartman, who was behind the net.
Mats Zuccarello made it 3-0 at 17:15. Theodore whiffed on a pass near his blue, which allowed Marcus Johansson to steal the puck and send a backhand pass to Zuccarello, who skated in and beat Hill with a shot that snuck under his glove.
Kaprizov made it 4-0 at 3:59 of the second period. Following another turnover by Theodore, Kaprizov skated in on a 2-on-1 and scored with a shot that trickled under Hill’s pads from the left circle.
Boldy had the primary assist on the play, marking the fourth time so far in this series that the two have connected on a goal.
“They’re playing north and direct, they’re highly competitive on the puck,” Hynes said. “That’s what makes those guys good. When you’re highly talented guys like those two guys are and they’re committed to play the game that’s required to win, then they’re able to be big impacts.”
Hanifin scored for the Golden Knights to make it 4-1 at 12:04 of the second. Nicolas Roy had the puck poked off his stick by Zeev Buium, but Hanifin skated right into and quickly scored glove side from the high slot.
MIN@VGK, Gm2: Hanifin wires one in from the high slot for the Golden Knights first goal
Hertl cut it to 4-2 at 2:26 of the third period, tapping in a centering feed from Alex Pietrangelo.
“We’ve got to play better, but I said it the other day and I believe that in the first part of the game they’re hungrier than us and more competitive,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Halfway through the game we started to see the better of that. So, that’s your teaching moment. Get hungry, get competitive. It’s not easy this time of year, and we’ll be fine. I believe that. But they were hungrier than us, more competitive than us in the first half of the game.“
Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal from below his own goal line at 17:34 for the 5-2 final.
“We just got to our game,” Foligno said. ”The start was the start, but we felt good going into it, and it was nice to see us take over there.”
🔹Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
🔹Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
🔹Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
🔹New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
🔹St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
🔹Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
🔹Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights
🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
