Kirill Kaprizov sparks Wild win streak with prolific point production

LOS ANGELES – One hand was fending off a defender while the other wielded the stick.

Then, Kirill Kaprizov took multi-tasking to a new level by accelerating, cutting to the middle and lifting the puck by the goaltender.

Each move by itself took skill.

Altogether, the sequence was poetry on ice.

"I don't think I did anything special," Kaprizov said in Russian through an interpreter. "I think I just kind of went around the defenseman and made a good play."

That assessment of his goal vs. New Jersey on Dec. 2 makes the standard of play Kaprizov operates at as the Wild's leading scorer sound routine. But what he is accomplishing isn't ordinary.

"There's not many guys in the NHL that can do that," goaltender Cam Talbot said. "We're definitely lucky that we have one of them."

After going goal-less through the first eight games of the season, Kaprizov has vaulted back onto the NHL's marquee as one of the league's stars with video game moves and MVP-like performances.

And as he has reaffirmed his uniqueness in the afterglow of a massive five-year, $45 million contract finalized on the brink of training camp, the Wild has gone on its own memorable ride, winning eight in a row ahead of a Saturday puck drop at Los Angeles.

"To be honest, I didn't change much," Kaprizov said recently. "I've kept the same mental attitude. I've said it before in some of the other interviews when I wasn't scoring, I didn't want to change anything. I wanted to stick to my game, and that's what I've done. Obviously, it's just going in now, and that's the difference."

Although he wasn't scoring early in the season, Kaprizov was a factor for the Wild.

His playmaking instincts were on display, as he assisted on six goals in the first month.

"He was still helping us win hockey games," Talbot said. "He was creating space for other guys to score goals, and he was still putting up points. But we knew the goals were going to come. It was just a matter of time."

Kaprizov ended his drought Nov. 2 vs. Ottawa, a one-timer in overtime that sealed a 5-4 rally for the Wild, and he had another goal the next game at Pittsburgh.

But the turning point was Nov. 18 vs. Dallas when coach Dean Evason separated Kaprizov from his usual linemate Mats Zuccarello, a decision that wasn't lost on Kaprizov.

The winger replied by becoming only the fourth Wild player in the past 15 years to record a four-point game at age 24 or younger.

Since then, Kaprizov has led the NHL in scoring with 21 points in 11 games. He has had multipoint efforts in six of those contests. Overall, the NHL's reigning Rookie of the Year is tied for fifth in the NHL in scoring with a team-high 32 points.

"It takes time," alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. "He signs a contract. He wasn't here early. That stuff doesn't weigh on you; I'm sure it doesn't affect his play. But it just takes some time."

Some of these contributions have come while being reunited with Zuccarello, but Kaprizov also didn't fade when Zuccarello left the lineup for two games because of an injury. Instead, he kept rolling.

"It tells us that he understands that it's for the best for the team that they don't try to just pass to each other, that there are other people on the ice and one of them is Ryan Hartman and he's being a benefactor because of it," Evason said.

"It's always nice for us as a staff that when you make those tweaks that the guys respond in the right way and they don't go away and hide and they don't pout.

"They might be upset, but they don't show that and it doesn't affect their team game and their teammates and that's the big thing, and Kirill's a good teammate."

As the Wild's climb continued this week, with the third longest win streak in franchise history lifting the team into first place in the NHL on Thursday evening, that consistency has been mirrored in Kaprizov's play.

His current seven-game point streak, a run in which he has an impressive 14 points, is the longest of his NHL career.

Already, he is only two assists away from matching the 24 he had last season as a rookie and his assist streak is one game shy of tying Jim Dowd's eight-game stretch for tops in the Wild's record book.

But Kaprizov's productivity isn't just exceptional by the Wild's barometer.

Only four other active NHLers have averaged at least a point per game through their first 80 career contests: Washington's Alex Ovechkin (105), Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby (100) and Evgeni Malkin (88) and Edmonton's Connor McDavid (88). Kaprizov reached the 80-game plateau with 81 points.

Right now, at this very moment, the best player in the NHL is on the best team.

And that's Kaprizov and the Wild.

"He sees the ice so well," teammate Dmitry Kulikov said. "He makes players around him better. That's just the way he is. He's an unbelievable player."