ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kirill Kaprizov had three points and the Minnesota Wild extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.
Kaprizov had a goal and two assists to give him 201 points in the NHL.
“To be honest, you guys won’t let me forget how many goals I get or not,” Kaprizov said through a Russian interpreter. “To me obviously the most important thing is wins over losses.
“It’s my job to go out there and play and do the best that I can and for you guys to make those comparisons and assumptions.”
Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games, and Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves for Minnesota (18-11-2), which has won seven straight at home.
The home winning streak is second to the Boston Bruins (14) for longest in the NHL this season.
“I think home or road we weren’t very good at the start [of the season],” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “Certainly this crowd and the energy that they’re giving us, it’s exciting to play here, and it’s nice to play well in front of them and obviously give them some wins.”
Video: OTT@MIN: Kaprizov nets the first goal of the game
Mark Kastelic and Claude Giroux scored, and Anton Forsberg made 19 saves for Ottawa (14-15-2), which had won four in a row, including a 6-3 win at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
“We didn’t score on our chances and then they got the same chance and they scored,” Senators coach DJ Smith said. “Whether the goalie made a save or bounce, whatever the case may be, those gotta go in the net. We came out, scored, maybe it’s a different game but at the end of the day we still shot ourselves in the foot with two bad turnovers that end up in our net.
“You’re down 3-0 on the road, it’s tough to win.”
Kaprizov made it 1-0 at 8:19 of the first period on the Wild’s second shot of the game. Sam Steele worked the puck loose off the boards over to Zuccarello, who fed Kaprizov in the right circle for a one-timer.
Zuccarello put the Wild ahead 2-0 at 1:34 of the second period. Kaprizov bounced a shot off of Forsberg’s pads with the rebound deflecting to Steel, who passed to Zuccarello for the finish down low. Zuccarello has six goals and seven assists in his streak.
Jared Spurgeon increased the lead 3-0 at 9:27, after Kaprizov sent a pass through Travis Hamonic‘s legs.
Kastelic deflected Hamonic’s point shot into the goal at 4:58 of the third period to bring the Senators within 3-1, and Giroux made it 3-2 with Forsberg pulled for the extra attacker at 18:20.
Video: OTT@MIN: Spurgeon makes a backhand flick to score
“It took us until the last 10 minutes,” Kastelic said. “We came back in the third period, that’s what we talked about in the first period and the second period. We made a great push. We had a chance to tie the game and at least get a point in a really tough building against a really good team.”
Frederick Gaudreau scored on the empty net with 26 seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.
“I think just commitment to defense first and just playing the right way. Nothing too fancy, getting pucks in,” Spurgeon said. “That’s the way we play, and that’s the way when we’re winning games, that’s how we do it. So simplifying our game and every line. I think last game we had too many penalties and you take away the rhythm, and this one was a bit better.”
NOTES: Only three active players have reached 200 NHL points in fewer games than Kaprizov (167 games): Sidney Crosby (142 games) of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Alex Ovechkin (165 games) of the Washington Capitals and Evgeni Malkin (166 games) of the Penguins. Kaprizov is the fastest player in Wild history to reach 200 NHL points. (Marian Gaborik, 290 games). …Steel has four assists in a three-game assist streak. …Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman had three shots and blocked one shot in 12:10 total ice time in his first game back after missing 21 with an upper-body injury. … Ottawa was 0-for-3 on the power play after scoring three in Detroit on Saturday.
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