VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Minnesota Wild are making nail-biting wins their specialty.
They edged the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 at Rogers Arena on Thursday, the eve of the NHL trade deadline, to nab a third straight victory and extend their season-long point streak to eight games while staying on brand.
During this 7-0-1 run, the Wild have won by more than a goal only once, a 2-0 shutout at Columbus on Feb. 23.
Kirill Kaprizov scored twice to sit one goal shy of 40 for the second time in his three-year NHL career, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury picked up 21 saves.
Kaprizov capitalized just 44 seconds into the first period, a tap-in set up by Mats Zuccarello, before Burnsville's Brock Boeser responded for Vancouver at 14:03. That power play finish ended the Wild's streak of consecutive penalty kills at 27. The Canucks went 1-for-3, while the Wild were 0-for-5.
Only 3:40 into the second, Kaprizov broke the tie when he buried the rebound off his own breakaway.
Ryan Reaves' assist was his second point in as many games after a 16-game drought.
