Kirill Kaprizov's goals come from here, there and everywhere

Kirill Kaprizov was unmarked when Matt Boldy heaved the puck to the middle of the ice on a Wild power play, and the fraction of a second it took for the pass to reach Kaprizov was more than enough opportunity to punish Montreal for leaving him alone.

By the time a Canadiens defenseman smacked his stick down over Kaprizov's, the puck had already left Kaprizov's blade to slingshot into the back of the net.

"He's our best player on the team, one of the best players in the league, sitting in front kind of by himself," Boldy said. "You give those guys a chance to make a play."

Kaprizov scored once more in the 4-1 victory over Montreal on Tuesday to bump his total to eight, which leads the Wild, was tied for third in the NHL by the end of the night, and is the second highest through the first 10 games of a season in team history; Brian Rolston had nine goals in 2006-07.

Not only is this a serious uptick from where the winger was at this point a year ago before he went on a record-breaking tear, but the versatility in how and where Kaprizov is racking up goals is eye-catching.

"He's very deceiving," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. "He can shoot from back here, up there, one-timer, wristers, backhand. He's got it all.

"There's not like a book on him that you know what to expect. I think everything can happen with him."

The smorgasbord that is Kaprizov's offense has showcased how unpredictable he can be in the opposition's zone.

Of the eight tallies, six came off shots and two on deflections; before the redirect on Tuesday, Kaprizov had a more impressive one last Thursday at Ottawa when he tipped in a puck with his back to the net.

He has capitalized with a snap shot on the power play (vs. Los Angeles) by skating into a one-timer and off a stationary wind-up on the power play (Colorado). His first game-winning goal in overtime against Vancouver was a goal-line lift of his own rebound, and Kaprizov converted on a 2-on-1 in Detroit with a wrister. The second goal vs. the Canadiens on Tuesday was a tap-in outside the crease off a puck batted down to the ice by Marco Rossi.

"He just doesn't score one way," coach Dean Evason said. "He's not just scoring off the rush. He's not just scoring off the PP."

And Kaprizov is not staying on the perimeter and feasting on finesse goals.

Almost all are from the hash-marks in and half right around the net.

"If you look at his goals, a lot of them are scored right around the paint," Evason said. "So, if a guy's willing to do that with the skill set that he has, you score goals like he's scored. Stand in front of the net on the power play, that's not his spot on the power play. But he knows that's a pretty good spot to go score a goal. So, he's committed to go there.

"That's what makes him special."

Through 10 games last season, Kaprizov had just two goals and he didn't register his first until his ninth appearance.

He eventually ditched that pace, ending up with 47 goals to go along with 61 assists for 108 points — all franchise records that made him a top-five scorer in the NHL.

But considering how productive Kaprizov has been so far, scoring three more goals than expected according to Money Puck, perhaps last season's output was just a preview of his potential.

"It's one thing to have a skill set and skate around people and score top-shelf goals," Evason said. "But to have the grit and determination to get there to score the dirty goals in dirty areas sets players apart, and that's why he's as great as he is."