A pair of power-play goals by Kirill Kaprizov in the first period had the Xcel Energy Center rocking but the Minnesota Wild’s momentum waned in the second period before a fatal collapse in the third, falling 5-2 to the St. Louis Blues in the critical fifth game of the best-of-seven series.
The Blues now lead the series 3-2, putting Minnesota in a must-win situation for Game 6 Thursday night in St. Louis. If the Wild lose, it’s season over. A win would force Game 7 Saturday in St. Paul.
Kaprizov’s goals – his sixth and seventh of the series – gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead that they held until Brandon Saad tipped a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game with 4:32 left in the second period.
🚨🚨 𝔻𝕆𝕌𝔹𝕃𝔼 THE THRILLS, 𝔻𝕆𝕌𝔹𝕃𝔼 THE FUN IN THE PERIOD 1 🚨🚨 #mnwild pic.twitter.com/59muJ6PWHw
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 11, 2022
Locked 2-2, Vladimir Tarasenko scored the go-ahead goal 63 seconds into the third period and then made it 4-2 with another goal 1 minute, 28 seconds later. He completed a natural hat trick with an empty-net goal with 1:33 left in the game.
Vladimir Tarasenko's two goals in 68 seconds is a Blues #StanleyCup Playoffs record, surpassing Brendan Shanahan's two goals in 85 seconds during the 1994-95 season. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/Db7k2ivj2c
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 11, 2022
Game 6 starts at about 8:45 p.m. Thursday and will be televised on Bally Sports North and TNT.
