Minnesota communication – Newspaper Kommersant No. 32 (7477) dated February 21, 2023

Kirill Kaprizov became the best Russian sniper in the current NHL regular season. He got ahead of Alexander Ovechkin with two goals scored in a match in which his Minnesota Wild took over – 4: 3 – over the Nashville Predators.

One of the main characters of the next day of the regular championship of the NHL was the Russian striker Minnesota Kirill Kaprizov. It was his game that turned out to be the decisive factor in the home match of this club against the Nashville Predators, which was extremely difficult for the hosts. 25-year-old Kaprizov scored two goals in it. First, he excelled in the first period, playing on the rebound in the power play, and then in the final period, running one on one with goalkeeper Yuse Saros.

There is, of course, nothing surprising in the fact that Kirill Kaprizov pulled out the Minnesota.

In the NHL, the striker made his debut the season before last, winning the league’s strongest rookie award and immediately becoming the leader of the club. In the next championship, he strengthened his status. Kaprizov in it overcame the milestone of one hundred points, which is considered an indicator of exceptional attacking talent, and many times turned out to be the central figure of the most striking game episodes. In this sense, the current championship is an unconditional continuation of the trend.

Kirill Kaprizov is insanely good at it. He still successfully combines showiness with efficiency, and his statistics look great. A double against Nashville brought the number of goals scored by Kaprizov in the championship to 33. Thus, at the top of the classification of Russian regular season snipers, he replaced the great Alexander Ovechkin with his 32 goals. However, Ovechkin has already missed several matches due to the death of his father.

In the general sniper race, Kaprizov’s positions are also not bad. He’s already in the top ten.

There are seven hockey players ahead, and, perhaps, only the leader – Connor McDavid from the Edmonton Oilers, who has 42 goals in his asset, broke away so that he would never be overtaken. The rest are in sight, and the striker’s tone is excellent now: in nine February matches, he hit the opponents’ goal six times.

In the scorer’s race, the positions of Kirill Kaprizov, who has as many assists as goals, are also solid. He is in the top 15, and he will certainly overcome the mark of one hundred points again.

Although those who are worried about Minnesota, at this moment, they are probably much more worried about the near future of the club. If not for the productivity of Kirill Kaprizov, he most likely would have already parted with real chances to break into the playoffs. But as long as he has them. Minnesota is currently in the Western Conference Cup Eight, sitting fourth in the Central Division standings. However, she has no margin of safety, in fact, no. Coming in ninth, that is, already “non-cup”, the Calgary Flames are only two points behind the Minnesota. Very close before the face-to-face meeting was Nashville. Now, however, Minnesota has at least some lead over it – seven points with two games in reserve for a competitor. And it is quite obvious that in order to penetrate the Stanley Cup, she needs to rely on the fact that the “Magic of Kaprizov” will not go anywhere in the spring. Without her, Minnesota, with its rather modest line-up, has nothing to hope for.

Alexey Dospekhov