Calen Addison set a Minnesota rookie record with a goal and two assists, Kirill Kaprizov scored twice to tie a team record, and the Wild beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
In producing three points for the second time in his career, the 22-year-old Addison became the first Wild rookie ever with multiple three-point outings.
Kaprizov scored on the power play in the second period and into an empty net in the third, giving him points in 14 consecutive home games. That matched the mark set by Marian Gaborik in the 2007-08 season.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Sam Steel netted goals, and Matt Boldy had two assists. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 34 saves as the Wild beat the Lightning for the 10th straight time on home ice.
Marc-Andre Fleury replaced Gustavsson with two minutes to play, tying him with Ed Belfour, at 963 games, for the fifth-most games played by a goalie. He did not face a shot.
Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point tallied on the power play for his 12th goal in 13 games and a six-game point streak, but his club had its four-game winning streak end.
In a surprising move, the Lightning gave No. 1 netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy a second straight night off and again turned to backup Brian Elliott, who made 25 saves in a 4-1 win Tuesday at the Chicago Blackhawks. Elliott stopped 28 Wild shots.
Wearing their reverse retro green-white-and-yellow jerseys in a throwback to the Minnesota North Stars, the Wild went ahead when Eriksson Ek skated in from the right and slid a puck through the crease that struck Twin Cities area native Nick Perbix – playing his first game against his home state club — and ricocheted in for Eriksson Ek’s 13th goal.
Tampa Bay’s penalty-kill unit entered the match having denied 36 of its past 39 scenarios (92.3 percent) over 14 games, but the Wild made it 2-0 in the second when Kaprizov redirected a slap pass by Boldy into the slot and in at 7:09.
Addison soon skated away from a Lightning defender and unloaded a long blast for his third goal and a 3-0 lead.
Point put the Lightning on the board at 13:37 on their second power play, finishing for his team-best 22nd goal. But Minnesota answered two minutes later when Jared Spurgeon’s shot clipped Steel’s skate and went in for his seventh tally.
–Field Level Media