1. The Wild put together one of its finest periods in a long, long time on Friday night.
All that talk about teams struggling in the first game back after a long road trip? Forget it. Minnesota steamrolled Los Angeles in the opening 20, building a 3-0 lead by scoring three goals in a span of just 3 minutes, 3 seconds.
It was quite the welcome home for Minnesota, which was playing on friendly ice for the first time since Jan. 31, a span of 26 days.
The two teams spent the first 10 minutes or so feeling each other out a bit, but not long after that halfway point of the first, something began to click for Minnesota.
That something was Kirill Kaprizov, who will find himself yet again on the highlight shows all day tomorrow with the goal he scored to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.
With Drew Doughty draped all over him, Kaprizov had a shot from the goal line that hit the side of the net and rolled back to him. He gathered it in and went to try a wraparound, getting hauled down by Doughty in the process.
It didn't matter.
As he was falling Kaprizov swept the puck past Jonathan Quick for his fifth goal of the season.
Ignition sequence, engaged.