ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kirill Kaprizov moved just shy of claiming the Wild's single-season scoring record, but the team still had reason to celebrate.
After overwhelming the Flyers, 4-1, on Tuesday in front of 17,874 at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild has rattled off seven consecutive victories.
This is the second longest win streak of the season for the Wild, trailing only an eight-game run from Nov. 24 to Dec. 9, and the team is 9-1-1 over its last 11 to sit second in the Central Division.
Ten different players picked up at least a point for the Wild, with Joel Eriksson Ek and Frederick Gaudreau boasting two apiece, and Kaprizov is now one point away from tying Marian Gaborik's 83 for the most in a Wild season after scoring his 37th goal to record his 82nd point.
As for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who carried a shutout into the third period, he's 2-0 with the Wild since a March 21 trade from Chicago after making 32 saves — including 16 in the third period.
Matt Dumba opened the scoring 14 minutes, 29 seconds into the first period, a tic-tac-toe finish after slick passes by Gaudreau and Matt Boldy.
That lead doubled at 16:23 on the power play when Kaprizov flung in his fifth goal over the last four games, a run that's yielded a power play marker in three consecutive games. Overall, this four-game goal streak by Kaprizov is tied for his longest of the season and only one behind his career high.
Not only is he on the brink of putting up the most points in a Wild season, but Kaprizov is five goals and five assists away from becoming the leader of those categories as well.
More of the same happened in the second where Jordan Greenway capitalized only 1:35 into the period, backhanding in a rebound from an Eriksson Ek shot. That was Eriksson Ek's fifth point during a four-game point streak.
Later in the period, Kaprizov actually scored again — a finish that would have tied Gaborik's record — but the goal was immediately waved off due to contact with Flyers goalie Martin Jones, who had Ryan Hartman and Philadelphia's Travis Sanheim around his crease.
But the Wild did get to 4-0, on a rising shot by Kevin Fiala from the corner near the goal line during a delayed penalty at 18:49. Fiala's goal extended his point streak to four games, and his 23rd goal tied his career high for the third time.
In the third, Tyson Jost was sent to the penalty box for a high-sticking double minor and that's when the Flyers finally converted against Fleury, a backhander by Morgan Frost off a loose puck at 4:21. Philadelphia went 1 for 4 on the power play and the Wild was 1 for 3. Jones ended up with 33 saves for the Flyers, who had their best push of the night in the final 20 minutes.
After testing Fleury just four times in the second period, Philadelphia was much more active after the intermission. But Fleury prevented the pressure from exceeding beyond a goal to snag his 31st career win vs. the Flyers.
All seven of the Wild's recent victories have come at Xcel Energy Center, a season high, with the team's franchise-long nine-game concluding on Thursday vs. the Penguins.
