Kaprizov continues scorching start, Wild edge Lightning

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and an assist, Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves and the Minnesota Wild beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Friday night.

Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber also scored for the Wild, who have won six of their last seven.

Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel and Nick Paul scored for the Lightning, who snapped a four-game win streak. Victor Hedman had two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 17 saves.

With the score tied 2-2 in the third period, the puck bounced off Kaprizov and into the net after Marco Rossi threw a point shot into the crease with 5:23 remaining.

Boldy pushed the lead to 4-2 with an empty-netter 2:20 later, before Paul got the Lightning back within one with 2:26 to go. Kaprizov sealed the win with an empty-netter with 29 seconds remaining, giving him a team-leading 21 points on the season.

Lightning: Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper opted to pull Vasilevskiy with more than 3 minutes left, and Boldy promptly scored to pad the Wild lead.

Wild: It was Minnesota’s first home game since Oct. 12. After going 5-1-1 on a season-long seven-game road trip, the Wild beat the Lightning for the second time in eight days.

With 12:48 left in the second period, Rossi briefly appeared to give the Wild a 2-1 lead. However, Rossi had the wrong puck. Another puck had inadvertently ended up behind Tampa Bay’s net. After firing a shot off the end boards, Rossi scooped up the second puck while Tampa Bay skated the opposite direction with the correct one. After a brief review, the score remained tied.

Tampa Bay outshot Minnesota 30-22, including 15-6 in the first period. The Wild also blocked 18 shots.

The Lightning visit Winnipeg on Sunday and the Wild host Toronto.