Kaprizov's 3 goals, assist power Wild to win against Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Kirill Kaprizov had a hat trick and an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist, and Jesper Wallstedt made 29 saves for the Wild (3-1-1), who had lost two in a row.

“From the start, (Boldy) scored on the first shift,” Kaprizov said. “The boys played a great game.”

Matthew Tkachuk scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves for the Panthers (2-1-2), whose season-opening four-game point streak ended (2-0-2). 

Florida also had its seven-game winning streak in home openers end.

“Not the result we wanted,” Tkachuk said. “They are a good hockey team. It was 2-0 before you could blink, so we were chasing the game one shift in basically. That is not the recipe you want for success.”

Boldy put Minnesota ahead 1-0 at 53 seconds of the first period. He entered the zone with space as Florida was making a change and sent a wrist shot past Markstrom from the top of the slot.

Kaprizov, who had the secondary assist on Boldy’s goal, made it 2-0 on the power play at 6:18, scoring on a one-timer from the right face-off circle.

“We wanted to play more connected, at a much more competitive level,” said Minnesota coach John Hynes, whose team was coming off a 3-2 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. “We have a group of really competitive players, and we got to that tonight. That’s a big part of playing a connected, fast game. That was the most complete game we have played of the five (this season) and a great way to end a road trip.”

Tkachuk cut it to 2-1 at 2:18 of the second period, putting his own rebound in at the side of the net.

That ended up being all Florida could put past Wallstedt. 

“We were just slower than they were,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We were slow in all parts of our game. But (Minnesota) was quick in how they moved the puck, their feet. We were just sluggish. There were two or three reads that we normally don’t miss and they are in the back of our net. Being back on your heels early in your home opener puts attention on your game.”

Minnesota soon responded to make it 3-1 at 5:00 when Kaprizov scored with a wrist shot from the right circle off a cross-ice feed from Boldy.

Kaprizov capped the hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 1:04 remaining for the 4-1 final.

“That’s an unbelievable team over there,” Boldy said of the Panthers. “They are missing some guys, but that is a team that has won. Their core hasn’t changed much. You want to measure yourself against them. To be able to compare ourselves to them is huge.”

The Panthers went 0-for-5 on the power play and are 1-for-28 this season.

NOTES: Kaprizov scored his seventh career hat trick and is two behind Marian Gaborik (nine) for the most in Wild history. He also had his fifth four-point game, tying Mats Zuccarello and Boldy for second-most in Minnesota history, behind Gaborik (seven). … Wild forward Rieger Lorenz played 7:12 and was minus-1 in his NHL debut. … Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad became the franchise leader in games played at 807, breaking a tie with injured captain Aleksander Barkov. Ekblad returned after missing two games on paternity leave, finishing minus-1 with three shots on goal in 21:19 of ice time. … Florida forward Eetu Luostarinen left the game midway through the third period after taking a shot off the leg. Maurice said Luostarinen would be evaluated on Sunday.