In the current season of the National Hockey League, many are paying attention to Alexander Ovechkin's performance is unusually modest, but the leader of the Washington Capitals is far from the only Russian star from whom fans expect more impressive statistics and brilliant play. Kirill Kaprizov faced similar difficulties, and his position is much less enviable compared to Ovi.
The performance of the Russian striker “Minnesota Wild” cannot be called sad – after all, Kirill scores more than one point on average per game. However, more is still expected from Kaprizov. This applies to both goals and assists, and its influence on the team’s game in general. Demanding Wild fans believe that if the Russian receives the highest salary among all the club's players, then he must stand out among them with his performances. This opinion was spread especially actively at the start of the season, and this is a little surprising and even amusing: for some reason people are still not accustomed to the fact that Kaprizov harnesses him for a somewhat long time at the beginning of the championship, but later breaks and rushes. To some extent, Dean Evason also expected fire from the Russian: the now ex-Minnesota mentor saw Kaprizov as his lifeline, but unfortunately for him, Kirill’s modest regular-season period in terms of points came during a disastrous period for the Wild, cost Evason his job as head coach.
The change of coach shook up the “savages” somewhat, but did not affect the team’s results globally. “Minnesota” still alternates victories and defeats and somehow clings to the chances of getting into the playoffs, which are becoming more and more elusive. But Kirill Kaprizov got into great shape according to his schedule. In the last ten matches, he scored 17 points, scoring a total of ten goals and making seven assists. As you can see, the injury he received in the game with the Winnipeg Jets did not have a negative impact, which is good news.
The day before, Kaprizov helped Minnesota defeat Florida, beating Sergei Bobrovsky personal duel of natives of Novokuznetsk. In that match, the Russian Wild forward scored a double and made one assist. Today Kirill went even further and scored a hat-trick.
The no less hot Hurricanes from North Carolina fell under his hot hand. For the game with Minnesota, the Hurricanes were missing one of their main leaders, Andrei Svechnikov. The Russian striker was forced to miss the match due to an upper body injury. Who knows, perhaps it was Svechnikov that was not enough for Carolina to realize all its gaming advantage that it had in the battle with the “savages”. And it was huge. Literally the entire meeting took place near Filip Gustafsson's goal, but out of 42 shots on target, only two reached the target.
The Wild shot half as often, but scored an order of magnitude more often. By the middle of the second period, Minnesota was leading 2:1, scoring two goals from just seven shots on target. Both goals were scored by Kaprizov. Moreover, the first puck from the Russian flew into the Carolina goal in a style that was not typical for Kirill: after a throw from a distance, the Minnesota forward jumped out from behind Dmitry Orlov and put his stick in a great position, changing the trajectory of the puck. In the second case, Kaprizov made a powerful turnaround throw, leaving the entire Hurricane defense fooled.
During the second break, reporters covering Carolina affairs singled out Kaprizov during the television broadcast and spoke about him as follows:< br>“” Kaprizov is the player who does not need three or four chances. One is enough for him. Such players do not forgive.”
And the Minnesota leader confirmed this in the third period. When “Carolina” threw all its strength into saving itself, Kaprizov worked in defense and took the shot, then watched for the rebound and irresistibly shot into an empty goal, scoring his first hat-trick of the season.
He became the the Russian is third in his career in the NHL championships. Prior to this, Kirill scored a three-pointer against the Arizona Coyotes in the 2020/21 season and the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2022/23 season. Kaprizov also scored three goals per game in the 2021/22 season, but that was as part of the battles with the St. Louis Blues in the playoffs. In total, the Russian forward took second place in the history of the Wild in terms of the number of hat-tricks in the NHL regular season, equaling Zach Parise and Matt Boldy. Only the absolute record holder Marian Gaborik (9) is ahead.
Now Kirill Kaprizov is officially among the top 4 best snipers in Minnesota history. His third goal in the match with Carolina became his 132nd in his career for the “savages”. In terms of the number of goals, the Russian is equal to Jason Zucker. Ahead is Zach Parise (199 goals). The club record belongs to Marian Gaborik (219), but at this rate he will be beaten by a Russian striker in the foreseeable future.
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