- Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 14th goal in 14 games Tuesday
- Only three players in the last 30 years scored more through 14 games
- Read below for the numbers behind his start and what the Wild are getting from Quinn Hughes
Kirill Kaprizov is scoring at a pace the NHL hasn’t seen in years.
The Wild winger scored his league-leading 14th goal in 14 games Tuesday, a power-play goal 48 seconds into the third period of Minnesota’s 3-1 win over the Utah Mammoth. Matt Boldy set it up and Kaprizov whipped it home from the right circle.
Watch the goal:
Only three players in the past 30 years have scored more through their first 14 games of a season. Simon Gagne had 16 in 2005-06, Auston Matthews had 15 in 2018-19 and Leon Draisaitl had 15 in 2021-22.
Kaprizov is also the eighth player in NHL history with at least 14 goals in a single October. Only Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull have scored more in the month, and the Wild still have one October game left Thursday against the Islanders.
Wild coach John Hynes talked about what he likes in Kaprizov’s start beyond the raw total.
“He’s a guy that can put the puck in the back of the net but he’s playing the game that he needs to play to give himself a chance to be a lead and put himself in scoring situations,” Hynes said.
The NHL EDGE tracking data agrees. Kaprizov is tied for first in the league with seven high-danger goals, and five of his 14 have come off the rush, which ranks second behind Connor McDavid’s seven. He’s already the early favorite for the Rocket Richard Trophy, and he was one of the NHL’s Three Stars of the Week earlier this month.
Joel Eriksson Ek opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the second period:
Maxim Shabanov added the third goal before Logan Cooley got one back for Utah late. Jesper Wallstedt made 26 saves, and the win moved Minnesota to 9-3-2, tops in the Western Conference.
Quinn Hughes picked up two assists and now has 18 points in 14 games. Only John Carlson and Cale Makar have had 18 or more points in an October as a defenseman since 1992-93.
The one bad note was on defense. Jared Spurgeon left in the second period after blocking back-to-back Dylan Guenther shots, and Hynes had no update on him after the game.
