- Kirill Kaprizov scored three goals in the Wild’s 4-1 win over the Panthers
- It was his seventh career hat trick and his sixth goal in five games
- Read below for the full hat trick video and how Minnesota snapped its skid
Kirill Kaprizov was the best player on the ice in Florida, and it wasn’t close.
The Wild star scored three times and added an assist in a 4-1 win over the Panthers on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena. It was the seventh hat trick of his career.
Watch the complete Kaprizov hat trick:
Matt Boldy got Minnesota on the board 53 seconds into the game with a wrist shot from the top of the slot, and Kaprizov picked up the secondary assist. He then scored himself on the power play at 6:18 of the first period, snapping a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Maxim Shabanov.
Matthew Tkachuk cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second by cleaning up a loose puck at the side of the net. Kaprizov answered at the 5:00 mark with a wrist shot from the right circle, set up by a cross-ice feed from Boldy.
He finished it off with an empty-netter from his own zone with 1:04 left. That makes six goals and two assists through five games, matching the six Evan Bouchard and Kyle Connor led the league with entering Saturday.
Our own timeline also caught a Panthers hit on Kaprizov that got the Wild’s attention before the night was over:
The win pulled Minnesota (3-1-1) out of its first losing streak of the season. Jesper Wallstedt stopped 29 of 30 shots, and Quinn Hughes was one of four other Wild players to record an assist. Forward Rieger Lorenz also made his NHL debut.
Florida’s four-game point streak to open the year ended, along with its seven-game winning streak in home openers. The Panthers went 0-for-5 on the power play and sit at 1-for-28 on the season.
Minnesota stays on the schedule with a Monday home game against the Golden Knights in St. Paul at 7 p.m. CT.
