Wild Even Series with Dominant Win Over Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov warned that it’s still early in the series — just two games in — but his performance is already making a big impact.

After notching two assists in Game 1, Kaprizov turned up the heat in Game 2 with two goals and an assist, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. With the victory, Minnesota evened their first-round playoff series at 1-1.

The series now heads to Minnesota, with Game 3 set for Thursday night in St. Paul.

This win marked Minnesota’s first of the season against Vegas, having lost all three regular-season matchups and falling 4-2 in the series opener on Sunday. It was also their first regulation win since March 27, while it handed the Golden Knights their first regulation loss since April 3.

Matt Boldy continued his scoring streak for the Wild, netting his third goal in two games and adding an assist. Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello also found the back of the net, while goaltender Filip Gustavsson was solid in net, making 29 saves. Kaprizov now has five points in the series.

For Vegas, Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl scored, but Adin Hill struggled in goal, finishing with just 12 saves. Despite a strong start — the Golden Knights took the first five shots of the game — they couldn’t break through Gustavsson early and quickly found themselves in a hole.

Minnesota seized control in the first period with three quick goals — two coming off Vegas turnovers and another after Ryan Hartman won a puck battle. Early in the second, another Vegas miscue, this time by Shea Theodore, led to Kaprizov scoring to make it 4-0.

Vegas showed signs of life later, dominating play for much of the remainder of the game. They outshot the Wild 22-5 from that point forward and scored twice to narrow the gap. However, any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Kaprizov sealed the win with an empty-net goal from nearly 200 feet out with 2:26 remaining.

Tensions flared late, with several scrums breaking out with under five minutes to go. Despite the chaos, no penalties were assessed.

As the series shifts to Minnesota, both teams are bracing for what’s shaping up to be a hard-fought and possibly heated matchup.