Kirill Kaprizov capped his hat trick on a goal with 19.9 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Minnesota Wild rallied for a 3-2 victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minn.
On a two-on-one in the waning moments of overtime, Calen Addison set the puck in front of the net for a wide open Kaprizov to record his 37th goal of the season and second career regular-season hat trick. The tally allowed the Wild to improve to 5-0-1 in their last six games.
Down 2-0 and frustrated while failing to convert on any of its 26 shots through the first two periods, Minnesota pressured from the first drop of the puck in the third. The Wild were eventually rewarded just 1:15 in, when the puck caught the stick of Columbus defenseman Andrew Peeke, then glanced off the shoulder of Kaprizov and over the goal line.
Less than five minutes later, during a five-on-three advantage, Kaprizov struck again directly from the faceoff to level the contest at 2-2.
Columbus netminder Elvis Merzlikins was stout most of the afternoon while making 41 saves. Mathieu Olivier and Liam Foudy each scored for the Blue Jackets, who are last in the Eastern Conference but amid a 3-1-2 stretch.
After failing to score on 30 shots against Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury during its 2-0 home loss to the Wild on Thursday, Columbus needed only six shots to take a 1-0 lead Sunday. Off a turnover in the Wild’s own end, Eric Robinson got control of the puck and found Olivier in front of the net to convert with 3:40 remaining in the opening period. Merzlikins saved 13 shots in the period.
The Blue Jackets were the aggressors coming out of the gate in the second period and made it 2-0 just 3:04 into the middle frame. Erik Gudbranson threw the puck on net and Foudy deflected it between the legs of Fleury, who stopped 22 shots on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
