Kaprizov, Wild defeat Senators for 5th straight win

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists for the Minnesota Wild, who extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.

Kaprizov has 201 points (93 goals, 108 assists) in 167 games. Only three active players have reached the mark in fewer games: Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (142), Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (165) and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins (166).
"To be honest, you guys won't let me forget how many goals I get or not," Kaprizov said through a Russian interpreter. "To me, obviously the most important thing is wins over losses.
"It's my job to go out there and play and do the best that I can, and for you guys to make those comparisons and assumptions."
Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games, and Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves for Minnesota (18-11-2), which has won seven straight at home.
"I think home or road we weren't very good at the start (of the season)," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "Certainly this crowd and the energy that they're giving us, it's exciting to play here, and it's nice to play well in front of them and obviously give them some wins."

Mark Kastelic and Claude Giroux scored, and Anton Forsberg made 19 saves for Ottawa (14-15-2), which had won four in a row, including 6-3 at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
"We didn't score on our chances, and then they get the same chance and they score," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "Whether the goalie made a save or bounce, whatever the case may be, those gotta go in the net. We come out, scored, maybe it's a different game, but at the end of the day, we still shot ourselves in the foot with two bad turnovers that end up in our net.
"You're down 3-0 on the road, it's tough to win."
Kaprizov made it 1-0 at 8:19 of the first period on the Wild's second shot of the game. Sam Steel worked the puck loose off the boards over to Zuccarello, who fed Kaprizov in the right circle for a one-timer.
Zuccarello then made it 2-0 at 1:34 of the second period. The rebound of Kaprizov's shot deflected to Steel, who passed to Zuccarello for the finish down low.
Zuccarello has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) during his point streak.
Jared Spurgeon extended the lead 3-0 at 9:27 off a pass from Kaprizov that went through the legs of Travis Hamonic.
Kastelic made it 3-1 at 4:58 of the third period with a deflection of Hamonic's point shot, and Giroux cut it to 3-2 at 18:20 with Forsberg pulled for the extra attacker.

"It took us until the last 10 minutes," Kastelic said. "We came back in the third period, that's what we talked about in the first period and the second period. We made a great push. We had a chance to tie the game and at least get a point in a really tough building against a really good team."
Frederick Gaudreau scored into an empty net with 26 seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.
"I think just commitment to defense first and just playing the right way. Nothing too fancy, getting pucks in," Spurgeon said. "That's the way we play, and that's the way when we're winning games, that's how we do it. So simplifying our game and every line. I think last game (4-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday) we had too many penalties and you take away the rhythm, and this one was a bit better."
NOTES: Kaprizov is the first player player to reach 200 points in fewer than 200 games with the Wild. Brian Rolston (239) held the previous record. ... Steel has four assists in a three-game point streak. … Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman had three shots and one block in 12:10 of ice time in his return after missing 21 games with an upper-body injury. … Ottawa was 0-for-3 on the power play after going 3-for-5 against Detroit on Saturday.