Kirill Kaprizov scored the go-ahead power-play goal early in the second period to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Grand Casino Arena on Sunday.
Danila Yurov opened the scoring for Minnesota at 18:12 of the first period, beating the goaltender with an even-strength wrist shot set up by Yakov Trenin. Columbus responded exactly one minute later when Adam Fantilli scored his second goal of the season with a wrist shot off assists from Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan to tie the game 1-1 heading into the intermission.
Kaprizov broke the deadlock 3:06 into the second period. With the Wild on the power play, he sent a snap shot past the goaltender with assists credited to Maxim Shabanov and Joel Eriksson Ek. Neither team scored in the final period as Minnesota held the one-goal advantage through the final horn.
Jesper Wallstedt stopped 13 of 14 shots to earn the victory for Minnesota. Columbus goaltender Cam Talbot turned aside 32 of 34 shots in the loss. Minnesota converted one of four power-play opportunities, while Columbus finished scoreless on two chances with the man advantage.
With the win, the Wild improved their regular-season record to 6-2-1 and extended their winning streak to two games. The Blue Jackets dropped to 3-4-0 on the season.
Columbus returns home to host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Minnesota travels to visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
