Kirill Kaprizov was a man on a mission Sunday in San Jose as he netted his sixth career hat trick to propel the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 win over the Sharks.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak and kept Minnesota eight points out of the wild card race with 20 games left in the regular season. At 64 points, the Wild are chasing the Kings and Predators (both at 72 points) for the two wild card spots. They also are staring up at the Blues and Flames (both at 65 points) in the standings.
Minnesota trailed 2-0 after ex-Wild wingers Mikael Granlund (power play) and Nico Sturm (shorthanded) scored goals within the first five minutes of the second period, only to have Freddy Gaudreau score his fourth of the season on a power play to cut the deficit in half.
Just 75 seconds after Gaudreau's goal, Kaprizov scored his first of the night to tie the game 2-2. Then in the third period the Sharks took a 3-2 lead when Anthony Duclair scored just 23 seconds into the frame, only to have Kaprizov fire back with his second of the night 2 minutes, 15 seconds later.
Kaprizov then scored the go-ahead goal with 3:59 to play.
"They got Kaprizov and we don't. That was really the difference in the game tonight. He scores goals that a lot of guys can't score in this league," San Jose head coach David Quinn said afterward, according to Sharks insider Sheng Peng.
Kaprizov's three hat tricks is tied for second most in the NHL this season with Brock Boeser and Zac Hyman. Auston Matthews has six hat tricks in 59 games to lead the league.
The Wild needed the win Sunday and now they're off until Thursday. Scoreboard watchers will have eyes on the Kings and Predators as they both play (not each other) Tuesday night, so Minnesota could be 10 points out by the time they play again Thursday night in Arizona.
Also on the calendar this week is the NHL trade deadline, which hits Friday afternoon.
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