Kaprizov Nets 10th Goal as Wild Beat Blue Jackets 2-1 in St. Paul

Kirill Kaprizov scored his league-leading 10th goal of the season on a second-period power play, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Sunday night at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.

Danila Yurov gave Minnesota the lead at 18:12 of the first period. Yakov Trenin picked up a loose puck, beat a defender and slid a pass across the slot, and Yurov finished the odd-man rush. The lead lasted one minute. Adam Fantilli tied the game at 19:12 on a delayed penalty, coming on as the extra attacker and scoring from the top of the right circle with help from Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan.

Kaprizov settled it early in the second. With Minnesota on the power play, he took the puck low in the left circle and lifted a sharp-angle shot over Cam Talbot's shoulder, short side, at 3:06. It was his third power-play goal of the season, his third straight game with a goal, and it stretched his point streak to six games, with 12 points in that run on seven goals and five assists.

A short list, and Kaprizov is on it

Kaprizov is the sixth active player to reach 10 goals in nine games or fewer in a season. Auston Matthews did it in six games in 2018-19, Alex Ovechkin in eight games in 2017-18, and David Pastrnak, Nikita Kucherov and Sidney Crosby each did it in nine. He also leads the league in goals while playing on the eight-year, 136 million dollar contract he signed with Minnesota.

The numbers behind him were one-sided. Minnesota outshot Columbus 34 to 14, and the Blue Jackets' 14 shots were a season low. Jesper Wallstedt needed only 13 saves to win his fourth straight start. He stopped Conor Garland on a breakaway two minutes into the game and Charlie Coyle on another early in the third. Talbot was far busier at the other end and made 32 saves, including three stops while Columbus killed a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:52 in the first four minutes.

Why it matters

Minnesota improved to 6-2-1, stayed on top of the Central Division, remained unbeaten at home in four games, and has won four of its last five. Columbus fell to 3-4-0 and has lost three of its last four. The Blue Jackets were playing their second game in less than 24 hours after a 1-0 overtime win over the New York Rangers on Saturday, and their scoring problem is growing. Since a 6-3 win over Buffalo on Oct. 1, Columbus has not scored more than three goals in any of its next six games.

Minnesota entered the night with the league's second-best power play at 33.3 percent, 8 for 24, and went 1 for 4 on Sunday.

What happens next

The Wild start a five-game road trip at Edmonton on Tuesday night. Columbus returns home to host Toronto on Tuesday night, still looking for goals and now needing them against one of the league's highest-paid attacks.