Alex Bader
St. Paul, MINN -- Kirill Kaprizov found the back of the net for the first time this season, doing so in classic Kaprizov fashion, netting the game-winner in overtime and lifting Minnesota past Ottawa 5-4. Kaprizov finally showed up and he got rewarded for his efforts in what was one of his better games this season.
Minnesota saw their first eastern conference opponent this season. They continued their dominance over the Senators by having a strong start and strong finish to the game.
After coming off of back-to-back road losses, having a good start to the game was going to be imperative for the Wild.
That is exactly what happened for Minnesota. Marcus Foligno got his third goal of the season to give the Wild the 1-0 lead, four minutes into the first period. Foligno buried the puck after a flurry of missed shots by Fiala, Spurgeon, and Kulikov.
27 seconds later, Addison got his first NHL goal to put the Wild up by two, 2-0. It was Addison's first goal in two games this season and his first in eight career games. Kaprizov picked up the assist, getting his seventh helper on the season.
Ottawa Took their timeout.
Minnesota continued the pressure. They did a great job of getting the defenseman involved in the offense often and early.
With just under 10 minutes left, Duhaime dropped the gloves with Watson. It was more of a wrestling match than a fight. However, it resulted in a five-minute major for both players.
Just after the fight, the Senators got on the board and cut the deficit to one, 2-1 Wild. Nick Paul redirected a pass in the slot and it slipped past Talbot.
Minnesota wasted little time in securing the two goal lead again. With just over six minutes left in the first period, Nico Sturm scored from his knees. Fiala grabbed an assist, who got rewarded for his great play in the first period.
Dewar drew a power play for the Wild with five minutes left in the first. A great chance to push the lead to three for the Wild.
It was a bad power play, but Dumba got tripped and the Wild had a 5 on 3 for 13 seconds. However, the Wild failed to capitalize on back-to-back power plays and didn't get a shot in the four minutes with a man advantage.
Minnesota went into the first intermission with a 3-1 lead over Ottawa. They had the better of the play and got the lead early for the first time on home ice.
Minnesota started the first couple shifts strong, but it was Ottawa who came to play in the second.
Right after Fiala had a shot laying in the crease but couldn't get it past Gustavsson, Batherson scored after going criss-cross to get the Senators back within one.
The Wild challenged the goal by challenging high sticking before the goal happened.
The challenge was unsuccessful so the goal stood, and it put the Senators onto the power play with a chance to tie. It was a lousy challenge and a surprise to see Evason make such a challenge when video review clearly showed no high stick.
The unsuccessful challenge came back to hurt the Wild, Norris got a power-play goal to tie the game 3-3.
Just like that, the game was flipped on its head and the Senators had all the momentum.
Dewar got an interference penalty, and with just under 15 minutes to play in the second period the Senators had a chance to take the lead.
Talbot was forced to make two amazing saves to keep the game tied.
However, Tierney scored to put the Senators up 4-3 with 12 minutes left in the second period.
Minnesota let three goals in, in a 5:36 span. Up 3-1 going into the second period and not even halfway through the period found themselves trailing Ottawa 4-3.
The Wild got a power-play opportunity after a hooking call, and had a great chance to get the momentum back.
With just under 10 minutes to play in the second period, Foligno scored his second goal of the night off a great pass from Dumba. It was now tied 4-4. The power-play finally came up huge when it was needed most.
Both teams continued to battle in the second. Ottawa had great offensive zone time and was rewarded with a power-play with three minutes left in the second period.
Tkachuk high-sticked Eriksson Ek to end the Senators power-play. The teams played 4-4 for 54 seconds and then the Wild had just over a minute on the power play to end the second period.
It was a hectic, crazy, and intense second period.
After an ugly first 10 minutes for Minnesota the Wild responded well and tied it up, the score was 4-4 going into the third period.
It was a strong start to the third period for Minnesota. Gustavsson was forced to make several big saves for Ottawa.
Fiala went to the penalty box eight minutes into the third, which gave Ottawa a power-play and a chance to take the lead.
The Wild killed the penalty, thus keeping the game tied.
Gustavsson continued to be great in the third period for Ottawa.
Both teams continued to go back and forth with chances, but it was Minnesota that had the better of the chances to score.
However, with five minutes left in the game the teams were still tied 4-4.
Marcus Foligno almost had the game-winner and his hat trick but was denied by Gustavsson with one minute left in the game. The Senators broke the other way with a 2 on 1 forcing Talbot to make a stop.
After a scoring parade in the first two periods, The Wild and Senators couldn't score in the third and went to overtime.
Minnesota had the better of the play the majority of the third period, especially the last 10 minutes but was unable to solve Gustavsson. He made 19 saves in the third period keeping the Senators in the game.
Minnesota went to overtime for the third time, Ottawa went to overtime for the first time this season.
For the first time, this season Kirill Kaprizov scored a goal to end his eight-game drought.
(Skip to 2:24 to see start of the goal)
To sweeten the pot, it was the overtime game-winner to lift the Wild past the Senators. Fiala - played great all game long - got the puck and drove through a check to set up Kaprizov on a 2 on 1.
Kaprizov, with the wide open shot never had any doubt. It was Kaprizov's third career overtime winner.
Foligno's two-goal game tonight was his 10th career two-goal game. Fiala picked up two helpers.
Talbot finished the game with a .857 save percentage with 24 saves on 28 shots. It was not his best night but he stepped up in the big moments when he was called upon.
Addison picked up the first goal of his career seven years to the day his grandfather died of cancer, on Hockey Fights Cancer Night. One could say, someone was watching over him.
Filip Gustavsson ended the game with a .884 save percentage with 38 saves on 43 shots. He was the main reason the Senators were able to push the game in overtime.
Minnesota has three days off before their next game against the struggling Penguins.
BADER'S TAKE
Kaprizov finds the twine!
Kirill Kaprizov played fantastic all game long and had several chances to score his first of the season,
but he was stopped by a hot goalie. He got rewarded for his hard work in overtime after Fiala unselfishly passed him a goal on a platter, all Kirill had to do was not miss. He slammed it home and you could feel the relief leave his body on his smiling face.
Wild fans and staff are hopeful that getting the donut off of the scoresheet will get the superstar rolling.
I certainly think that is true. Now that he got the first goal, the goals will start to come in waves.
Fiala played amazing all night as well, and could've had his first goal of the season but found himself too up against a hot goalie. His time will come and hopefully, he will get some positive karma next game after he set up the game-winner tonight. If he keeps playing with the same speed and determination he did tonight, the goals will come.
I love Foligno. He is the energy of this team.
When the Wild found themselves trailing 4-3 after being up 3-1 only moments earlier, they needed a leader to step up. Foligno knew what he had to do. He went out and played physically and got rewarded with the game-tying goal.
He sets the tone for the game and you can see why Evason often starts him and whoever he plays with. He sets the tone and the players follow his lead.
The Wild's superstars finally showed up, and hopefully tonight is the start of good things to come for numbers 97 and 22.
What's Next:
Minnesota Wild ( 6-3 12 points 3rd in central ) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins ( 3-3-2 8 points 8th in Metro ) stats are as of this writing at Pittsburgh on Saturday, November 6th 2021. Puck drop at 6 p.m. central.
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