Kevin Fiala had his first career hat trick and rookie sensation Kirill Kaprizov scored twice to fuel the Wild to an 8-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
It was a statement win for the Wild after getting thrashed by the Avalanche in the previous three meetings. “We can play against you guys,” Fiala said, via ESPN, “if we’re going to meet them in the playoffs.”
Fiala netted two of Minnesota’s four power-play goals, while Kaprizov scoring the other two. Jared Spurgeon assisted on three goals with the man advantage. The Wild entered the game with the second-worst power play in the NHL, though, ironically, they’ve scored on 6 of their last 18 power plays against an Avalanche penalty kill that is second in the league.
The blowout victory put a bow on the regular season series between two of the top teams in the Western Conference, and continued the trend of lopsided victories as five of the eight matchups were decided by at least four goals.
- Jan. 30: 5-1, Avalanche
- Jan. 31: 4-3, Wild (overtime)
- Feb. 2: 2-1, Avalanche
- Feb. 24: 6-2, Wild
- Mar. 18: 5-1, Avalanche
- Mar. 20: 6-0, Avalanche
- Apr. 5: 5-4, Avalanche
- Apr. 7: 8-3, Wild
The loss snapped Colorado’s 15-game points streak and moved the Wild to within six points of the Avalanche, who lead the West Division with 56 points. Vegas sits between the third-place Wild and Avalanche with 52 points.
Minnesota is now 24-12-2 and has 18 games remaining before the playoffs.
Up next: Wild vs. Blues in three straight Friday through Monday.
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