Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy put on a show, Ryan Hartman makes his presence felt as Wild even series

By / / Sports / 8 minutes of reading


LAS VEGAS — It’s almost fitting that the Minnesota Wild played one of their best playoff games in years with kids fast asleep and adults tucked under the covers back in the Twin Cities.

If the Wild win 5-2 over the Vegas Golden Knights and nobody’s awake to see it east of Sin City, did it really happen?

Well, despite the 11:15 p.m. ET/10:15 p.m. CT opening faceoff Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the Wild evened the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal at one win apiece and wrestled home ice advantage away from the Stanley Cup champs of two years ago with Game 3 at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night.

Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy followed up their four-point performance in Game 1 by combining for three goals and two assists in Game 2. And one game after Boldy said he didn’t even see Kaprizov’s scintillating pass on one of the goals until the puck landed on his blade, Boldy said Kaprizov may have sent him “the best pass I’ve ever seen” on his game-opening breakaway goal.

Of course, Marcus Foligno, sitting to Boldy’s right at the postgame podium, interrupted: “That’s actually rude. I assisted on your first NHL goal. Wow. Interview’s over.”

To say the Wild’s mood Tuesday night was jollier than Sunday night is an understatement.

After having to weather an early storm the first five minutes with Vegas unleashing the game’s first five shots and Filip Gustavsson having to make some dandy saves, including two right off the hop on Ivan Barbashev, coach John Hynes’ one lineup tweak — Ryan Hartman to third-line center, Marco Rossi to fourth-line center — paid off in a big way.

With the Wild in desperate need of a momentum shift, out came the Foligno-Hartman-Gustav Nyquist line.

Hartman immediately got a breakaway courtesy of Nyquist. After 11 hits in Game 1, Foligno demolished Zach Whitecloud with one of his franchise-playoff-record 12 hits (tied for the eighth-most in an NHL playoff game ever). Nyquist then took a big hit from Nicolas Hague in the neutral zone before sending another puck ahead for Hartman.

The Wild took total control of the period from there.

In a 7:19 span, Kaprizov sent an airborne pass 60 feet in the air for a Boldy breakaway goal. Hartman set up Foligno at the goal mouth for his third career playoff goal. And then Brayden McNabb took a massive run at Mats Zuccarello, resulting in McNabb rattling the glass after Zuccarello dodged the check. Moments later, Shea Theodore, who was a well-earned minus-4 with McNabb, coughed up the puck to Marcus Johansson before Johansson set up Zuccarello for a 3-0 lead.

“I get hit once in a while, too,” Zuccarello said. “Next time he probably hits me.”

Kaprizov scored on a second-period rush after another Theodore turnover and the Wild, behind Gustavsson’s 30 saves, defended their way to victory from there before Kaprizov sealed the deal with a 150-foot empty-netter.

But make no mistake: Hartman’s line — Hartman, in particular — was the catalyst behind Tuesday’s win. There’s a reason captain Jared Spurgeon presented Hartman with the game puck, saying he’s in the Golden Knights’ heads.

Hartman, who was suspended eight games back in February and March, is often scrutinized for his lack of discipline. But, after just 12 points in his previous three postseasons with the Wild, Hartman was integral on both of Boldy’s goals Sunday, set up Foligno Tuesday and had skated away each time the Golden Knights have tried to goad him into extracurriculars through two games.

“I give credit to Hartzy. I think he’s been playing awesome, these past few games, especially,” Foligno said. “(Nyquist) is really good with the puck, very good and shifty and poised, and if I can get in there and be physical, we open some things up and Hartzy’s got a lot of skill around the net, so it’s a line that we need going for sure. I think the first game was a little bit iffy by us (with Rossi and Nyquist). If we can get our line going, it’s just gonna help our team.”

The playoffs are about getting into the battle, and Hartman is more than willing to get into the meat of it. This is Rossi’s first playoff appearance, and after logging only 12 minutes in Game 1 and registering one shot, Hynes immediately downgraded the Wild’s second-leading scorer in the regular season to the fourth line with Yakov Trenin and Justin Brazeau. The line had some hairy moments Tuesday when it was hemmed in its own zone, including when Rossi lost the puck when he saw a forechecker coming.

Plain and simple, Rossi’s going to have to play with more pace and grit if he’s going to be elevated in the lineup.

“There needs to be just a little bit more from Marco in that,” Hynes said Tuesday morning. “When you get to this time of the year, there is another level of compete and speed. I would like to see him get a little bit better in those areas. I am confident that Marco is going to help us and be a difference-maker in this series.”

Just ask Boldy how much of an adjustment one’s first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs is. Boldy didn’t fare well in his first two postseasons. He was too perimeter and GM Bill Guerin criticized him after the St. Louis and Dallas series in 2022 and 2023. Now, Boldy’s coming through big time with three goals and an assist so far in this series.

One other move Hynes resisted was demoting or even benching Nyquist for Vinnie Hinostroza after a ho-hum, 10-minute performance in Game 1. Nyquist has just two goals in 24 games (one power-play goal and one six-on-five goal) since his return to the Wild. Acquired from Nashville for a 2026 second-round pick, he has scored one five-on-five goal in his past 72 games and is minus-25.

But Nyquist fit in like a glove with Foligno and Hartman.

“I’m happy with the way I’m playing,” Nyquist said. “I’m just trying, wherever I get put in, to do my best and fill the role I’m asked to fill. It’s a team mentality first in this group, and that’s the way it’s always been since I came here. You’ve just got to go out and do your job.”

Hartman drew one penalty in Game 1 but could have drawn three or four, including being cross-checked in the teeth by Hague. But he didn’t bark at the officials. He didn’t retaliate against Hague or any of the Golden Knights. He just kept playing the game and was rewarded by Hynes in Game 2.

“Just trying to give our team a boost,” Hartman said. “We need all 20 guys out there. Big starts, momentum swings. I think, as our line, I think we can do that at times if things maybe aren’t going the right way, try to swing that momentum into our direction.”

Still, since Joel Eriksson Ek’s return from injury with four games left in the regular season, Hartman centered the fourth line and at least outwardly remained professional. He bided his time and is now back to where he’s more accustomed.

“Listen, I’m just trying to play the game hard, try to be undeniable and go out there and earn time,” he said. “Obviously, we need everyone at all times. So I think there’s gonna be points where guys are jumping up and guys are going down, and that’s how you win this time of year.”

The other way to win is with balanced scoring. That’s Vegas’ hallmark, and at least for one night, the Wild got goals from each of their top three lines. When you look at all the teams that go on long playoff runs, it’s not just their stars who are relied upon to score goals; the depth guys have to contribute, and that must continue in this series.

The Wild have done a good job defending in this series, especially Vegas’ top line that includes Jack Eichel and Mark Stone. Foligno said he could tell that line is frustrated. The Wild have also been super disciplined, taking two minors in Game 1 and going penalty-free Tuesday for the third time in their playoff history.

We all know the Wild’s special teams have been their Achilles’ heel this season, especially their penalty kill. So it’s almost hilarious that the Wild are raving about the way this series has been officiated, because they know even strength is their likeliest way to their first series win since 2015.

“It suits us well to play five-on-five,” Hartman admitted. “I think we’re happy with how everything’s being called. We’re not here to complain about anything.”

Added Hynes, “Both teams have been disciplined in the regular season and coming in. You have habits in the regular season over 82 games, and then you get in a highly competitive environment, your penalty discipline is instinctual. There’s not a lot of errant sticks or retaliation or loose sticks or bad penalties. I think the refs have done a good job. I think both teams have been disciplined and haven’t given the refs an opportunity to call a lot. I think that’s probably a hallmark of each team, and I think you can play physical without taking penalties.”

It’s amazing what one win can do to the complexion of a series. Suddenly, you look at the two-game sample size, and there’s a lot to like about how the Wild are playing, from their defense and physicality to their balanced scoring and discipline.

But there’s a lot of series left, Kaprizov reminded.

“It’s just two games, guys, you know,” Kaprizov said. “Just keep playing now. It’s nice we take this game tonight and come back in our building, have some fun there. I hope every fan is excited in Minnesota and we just keep it going there.”

(Photo of Kirill Kaprizov celebrating with teammates: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)





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