Kirill Kaprizov, Wild thrash Knights, level series
Apr 22, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) keeps the puck away from Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin (15) during the first period of game two of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Kirill Kaprizov scored two goals and had an assist as the Minnesota Wild evened their series against the Vegas Golden Knights with a 5-2 victory in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist and Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello also scored for Minnesota, which scored four times over a seven-shot stretch while building a 4-0 lead. Filip Gustavsson finished with 30 saves for the victory.
Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl scored goals and Adin Hill stopped 12 of 16 shots for Vegas. The best-of-seven series now moves to Saint Paul, Minn., for games on Thursday and Saturday.
Vegas, a 4-2 winner in Game 1, started quickly firing the first five shots on goal but couldn't get one past Gustavsson. The Wild dominated the rest of the first period, scoring three times in a four-shot span.
Boldy, who scored both Minnesota goals in the opener, made it 1-0 at the 9:56 mark with a breakaway goal. He took a long saucer pass from Kaprizov and beat Hill with a wrist shot five-hole to give Minnesota its first lead of the series. Boldy became the second player in franchise history to score three consecutive goals in the postseason, joining Marian Gaborik (2003).
Foligno made it 2-0 when he slammed in a rebound of a Ryan Hartman shot from the low slot. Zuccarello followed at the 17:15 mark when he took a Marcus Johansson pass rushing down the slot and fired a wrist shot off Hill's glove.
The Wild extended their lead to 4-0 at 3:59 of the second period when Kaprizov finished a two-on-one with Boldy with a wrist shot that squirted in off Hill's pads.
Hanifin cut into the deficit at 12:04 of the middle period with a wrist shot from the slot past Gustavsson's glove side.
Vegas closed within 4-2 at 2:26 of the third period when Hertl chipped in Alex Pietrangelo's pass into the low slot for his second goal of the playoffs.
The Golden Knights pulled Hill for an extra attacker with 3:49 remaining, and Kaprizov sealed the win with a length-of-the-ice empty-netter from the boards behind his own net a minute later. He has five points in the series.
--Field Level Media
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