On paper, the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars series is probably the tightest matchup of any in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs — but if the Wild want to force a deciding Game 7, they're going to need more from Kirill Kaprizov.
The Russian superstar hasn't found the scoresheet since scoring in Game 1, despite averaging more than 23 minutes per game. With Game 6 on tap at Xcel Energy Center on Friday night and Minnesota down 3-2 in the series, the 26-year-old knows if he doesn't come through, his team could be going home early once again.
“Obviously, it's a bit frustrating, but I'm confident this next game I should break through and be able to help out the team and do more on my end,” Kaprizov explained, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers.
“I think there's definitely some responsibility on my end to play better. Of course, I feel that. But it's not something I want to dwell on and it's not something I want to think about. It's not going to make it better.”
Kaprizov missed a month of the season due to an injury he suffered against the Winnipeg Jets on Mar. 8; he played just 67 regular-season games in 2022-23. Still, he led the Wild with 40 goals and 75 points.
The sniper is also a proven playoff performer; he scored seven goals in Minnesota's first-round loss to the St. Louis Blues last season.
But this season, he and his group have watched a 2-1 series lead disappear after losing Games 4 and 5, while being outscored 7-2 in the process.
The bottom line is, the Wild are not as deep as the Stars offensively, and if their best player doesn't come through against a stingy Dallas defense, that might be all she wrote for Minnesota's season.
“I've got to go out there and I've got to play my game,” Wild's Kirill Kaprizov said. “If I do that, I think it'll turn, and the goals will come.”
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