Kirill Kaprizov collected one goal and one assist as the visiting Minnesota Wild claimed a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Wild, while goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves.
Minnesota is unbeaten in regulation to kick off the season, with three victories and a pair of extra-time losses in the books through five games. Two of the victories came against the Blue Jackets.
Yegor Chinakhov scored for the Blue Jackets, who have been besieged by injuries, including issues that have put Kent Johnson, Boone Jenner, Dmitri Voronkov, Erik Gudbranson and No. 1 goaltender Elvis Merzlikins on the shelf. Goalie Daniil Tarasov stopped 32 shots.
Rossi’s second of the season opened the scoring at the 12:40 mark of the clash. After an errant Columbus clearing attempt came to his stick, Yakov Trenin spied Rossi heading to the net and threaded a perfect pass that was converted.
Kaprizov’s power-play goal doubled the Minnesota lead early in the third period. During a five-on-three advantage, Kaprizov unloaded a bullet of a one-timer from deep in the right circle for his second goal of the campaign.
Zuccarello made it a 3-0 game with his third of the campaign at 8:26 of the third period when he neatly slipped home a back-hand shot while driving to the net. It was Zuccarello’s third of the season.
Chinakhov spoiled Gustavsson’s shutout bid with 85 seconds remaining by netting his third goal of the season.
The low-scoring affair came in big part due to strong goaltending at both ends. Tarasov kept his club in the fight with a litany of saves, among the most notable a breakaway stop on Jakub Lauko late in a one-sided first period controlled by the Wild. He also came up with a dandy stop on Jake Middleton in the second period.
Gustavsson produced his biggest moments in the second period during a Columbus four-minute power play, when he made seven stops.
–Field Level Media
