The numbers and the highlights agree: The Minnesota Wild's top line is the league's most dangerous right now. High-scoring wingers Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov, centered by Joel Eriksson Ek, are dominating play every minute they're on the ice, outshooting opponents 21-13 at 5-on-5 and outchancing them 26-11. This is no mean feat coming largely against Vegas's own formidable first line of Barbashev-Eichel-Stone, all of whom have yet to score a point through three games of the series. The Wild forwards are imposing their will in every zone, and executing on a level that makes even their most optimistic efforts result in legitimate chances.
If you're not watching the Minnesota Wild because of their historic Minnesota Wildness, you're missing out on some of the most confident offensive hockey being played. Take this saucer breakout from Kaprizov on Tuesday, which Boldy called "the best pass I've ever seen."
Or this dump and chasedown from Boldy Thursday night, singlehandedly creating a goal out of nothing.
With a 5-2 win in Game 3, the Wild have taken the lead in the series and have not trailed in 120 minutes. The Golden Knights have zero answers for Kaprizov, who scored twice for the second game in a row, to go with three assists. Boldy has four goals of his own in the series, and two helpers. "How hard they work is really setting the standard for the whole team,” said Eriksson Ek, who deserves credit for winning faceoffs and puck battles to feed his linemates. “Probably the two hardest working guys every night."
Kaprizov is a known quantity, a constant 40-goal guy when healthy. It's the starmaking turn from Boldy, the Massachusetts kid who the Wild took 12th overall back in 2019, that I've found myself most impressed by this postseason. Possibly I wouldn't be surprised if I'd paid more attention to his tournament-leading 14 points in eight games at Worlds last year, or his 73-point season in Minnesota this year, much of which came while Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek were out with injuries. There's a reason he made the U.S. roster at 4 Nations, and held his own as a 23-year-old.
Boldy's still growing into his 6-foot-2 frame, and this year he seems to be showing a newfound aggressiveness off the puck. The power-forward role suits him nicely—see how he separated Noah Hanifin from the puck last night, or how he terrorized a poor Finn in the corner to set up Team USA's first score at 4 Nations. His game complements the smaller, faster Kaprizov, who is perhaps a more natural goalscorer, each of them creating space for the other. This series is still just 2-1, but Vegas already has its bête verte. "That breakaway pass the other night, that’s special,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “That’s how pairs work sometimes, and they’ve got the guy in the middle who does a lot of the dirty work. So, it’s a good combination of players there for that line, and we’ve got to find a way to slow them down." If Literally Mark Stone can't figure out how to keep them off the scoresheet, I'm not sure who can.
Consider this blog a PSA. In a first round with really good hockey happening all over, perhaps the most entertaining is being played by Minnesota. What a thing to type.
