Alex Bader
"You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky
That is a saying every kid playing hockey will say to themselves over and over. However, few can truly bring the saying to life. Guys like Alex Ovechkin, Austin Mathews, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl have shown the fans over the years that they are elite scorers because they shoot the puck the most consistently.
Now that group has a talented newcomer in the Minnesota Wild's Kirill Kaprizov.
Wild fans have waited 22 years to have a truly elite shooter.
Kaprizov, 24, has 46 goals and 104 points in 95 career games. In those 95 career games, he has 300 shots on the net, averaging just over 3 shots a game. In the 55 games played in last year's shortened season, he had 157 shots on net with 27 goals and 51 points.
In 40 games played so far this season, he leads the team in shots on net (143), goals (19), assists (34), points (53), and multi-point games (15). His 143 shots are the 19th most in the league, however, all but three guys ahead of him have played more games. He is on track to being in the top 10 in the league for shots on the net.
He ranks eighth in the league in scoring, but the Wild have only played 40 games. His 1.33 points per game compared to the other top-10 scorers puts him in fifth in the league.
He is the fastest Wild player to reach 100 career points and he did it in 92 games. He became the fifth active player to reach the 100-point milestone in 92 games or fewer just behind Ovechkin (77 games), Crosby (80), Malkin (89), and McDavid (92).
He is currently on an eight-game point streak with five goals and 13 points. He does technically have points in his past 12 games, but the NHL does not recognize that as his point streak because he missed a game due to injury.
In those 12 games, he has nine goals and 21 points, including seven multi-point games.
He went into the All-Star break on a tear and there are no signs of him slowing down as the calendar gets incredibly hectic for the Wild.
The Wild will play 41 games from now until the end of the season, a span that takes place over 74 days. Luckily for the Wild, they will play 23 of those 41 at home and will only go on the road twice in March.
The Wild will not only need Kaprizov to keep up the intensity and the scoring touch, but they need all their guys to continue to dominate.
They need Kevin Fiala and matt Boldy to keep torching the other teams, especially when and if the first line of Zuccarello-Hartman-Kaprizov is struggling. Boldy has four goals and 10 points in 10 career games, he too doesn't look like slowing down. Fiala has had a fire lit underneath him ever since the paring of him and Boldy. Fiala is currently on a 12-game point streak which tied a franchise record.
They need the GREEF line to keep playing hard-hitting hockey and punishing their enemies into submission to create the space on the ice for the scorer lines like Gaudreau-Boldy-Fiala and Zuccarello-Hartman-Kaprizov.
The Minnesota Wild has insane depth. They have six skaters with double-digit figures in goals and 14 skaters with double-digit figures in assists. They have 18 skaters in double-digit figures in points.
This isn't a team of one great line with three other decent lines. This is a team that has four great lines rolling each night.
Kaprizov has instantly brought this team from playoff hopefuls to being a contender, but it is the depth of this team and the camaraderie that has brought them from contenders to being a true Stanley Cup contender.
What's Next:
Minnesota Wild (28-10-3 59 pts) vs. Winnipeg Jets (18-17-7 43 pts)
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. Puck Drop at 7:00 p. m. central time
The Jets have certainly struggled this year, but they still are within striking distance of the playoffs if they were to go on a run. So I expect the Jets to come out hard and fast at home tonight to try and start the second half of the season on a positive note against a division rival.
The Wild will need to shake off their vacation legs quickly and make sure they aren't sleeping at the start of this one. The Wild have had the jets number so far this season and I expect a tough, hard-fought battle that will see the Wild ultimately win a one-goal game, 4-3.
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I agree Krill is an amazing player to watch and exciting he is on our Wild team.