“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Kaprizov said. “Every game’s important because it’s playoffs. You can lose 7-0. You can win 10-0. Doesn’t matter, it’s still one game. You lose one game or win one game, and it’s best of seven.
“It’s always fun time, and you always have chance to show your best hockey and team best hockey — not just [me], but it starts for everyone. Then everyone show best one, what you can do, and team should be playing good.”
Losing Kaprizov took a toll on the Wild.
After all, they didn’t officially extend their season until their last game despite being comfortably ahead of the competition in the Western Conference as recently as a month ago — the Wild fell into a three-team race for the two wild cards as their offense struggled to score, which was less of an issue during Kaprizov’s first-half tear.
The Wild averaged just shy of three goals a game through Dec. 23, 2024, Kaprizov’s final appearance before he first exited the lineup for an extended stretch.
Kaprizov was tied for fourth in NHL scoring with 50 points at the time, and the left winger was lauded as the MVP frontrunner for spearheading the Wild’s turnaround after they failed to make the playoffs the previous season.
