Russian NHL star breaks 20-year record

Russia’s Kirill Kaprizov scored and had two assists in a record-breaking outing for the Minnesota Wild as they defeated NHL Western Conference rivals the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Thursday night.

Kaprizov tied the game at 2-2 with his goal on a power play in the second period, helping the Wild wrestle control at the Xcel Energy Arena.

The three-point showing from the Russian means he is on a 10-game point streak, and is up to 14 goals, 16 assists and 30 points for the season – all team highs.

Kaprizov has also had assists in nine straight games, beating the Minnesota franchise record set by Jim Dowd in 2002.

“I just tried to play my game. That’s it,” said the 25-year-old.

“Good the team won and everybody played hard, strong. [We didn’t] give up a lot of chances to Edmonton. We played good.”

Kaprizov has developed into a standout star at the Wild since joining the team ahead of the 2020/21 season.

“He’s a real good player,” said Edmonton star Connor McDavid of the Russian forward. “He skates really well, makes a lot happen.”

Thursday night’s points for Kaprizov were landmark ones in numerous ways. According to NHL statistics, Kaprizov achieved his 100th and 101st assists in his 158th NHL game.

That makes him the fastest star to reach the milestone among players to have made their NHL debut with the Wild – with the previous best mark being Mikko Koivu on 230 games.

Next up for Minnesota is a home meeting on Saturday with the Anaheim Ducks, before a visit to the Dallas Stars on Sunday.