ST. PAUL, Minn. — On a day where the Wild were gutted by the loss of longtime NHL executive and Bill Guerin’s senior advisor, Ray Shero and on a special night when Marc-Andre Fleury was starting perhaps the final home game of his NHL regular season career, the Wild were given at least an offensive boost from the long-awaited returns of Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek on Wednesday night during a wild 8-7 win over the San Jose Sharks.
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Unfortunately, they couldn’t defend and Fleury had a nightmare (maybe) final Xcel Energy Center start when he allowed seven goals on 31 shots, including the tying goal to Will Smith with 50.4 seconds left in regulation. The goal capped a 4-point night for the young Smith, while Macklin Celebrini scored three goals and two assists.
But in overtime, Kaprizov saved the day by extending his team record with his 10th career overtime winner.
KIRILL THE THRILL IN HIS FIRST GAME BACK GIVES THE WILD THE OT DUB 🤯 pic.twitter.com/hbuF4RUPeI
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 10, 2025
Joel Eriksson Ek, who hadn’t played Feb. 22, not only registered his second career hat trick and the 44th in Wild history, but he also added a fourth goal for only the second four-goal game in Wild history behind Marian Gaborik’s five. Kaprizov, who hadn’t played since Jan. 26 and only three times since Christmas, scored a power-play goal, the OT winner and notched his 200th career assist.
Joel Eriksson Ek has FOUR goals in his first game back for the Wild when they need it most for the playoff hunt 😱 pic.twitter.com/6rBVE8qAmn
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 10, 2025
This after coach John Hynes cautioned the Wild not to look past the NHL’s basement-dwelling Sharks, not to take a sigh of relief and play like a couple of saviors have returned and called upon his team to put their foot on the gas with four games left in the season.
He told the Wild during a Wednesday morning meeting, “We got seven days, we got four games, we got 12 periods. It’s time to make sure that everything is about winning, roles, acceptance, attitude, an intensity level in which we play, and we need everybody.”
KIRILL KAPRIZOV pic.twitter.com/HoMx0D4BMf
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) April 10, 2025
In a game that featured six second-period goals, five third-period goals and 60 minutes that included five lead changes, the Wild at least temporarily pulled even with the St. Louis Blues for the top wild card with a game in hand and six points up on the Calgary Flames. The Blues were playing in Edmonton late Wednesday night, while the Flames were in Anaheim.
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The Wild and Flames play each other in Calgary on Friday night.
Marcus Johansson and Brock Faber also scored for the Wild, while Matt Boldy had four assists, Mats Zuccarello three and Marcus Foligno and Marco Rossi two apiece.
This was only the 26th time Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek were in the same lineup together for the Wild. They’re 18-5-2 with almost 3 1/2 goals per game.
According to Fan Duel Sports Network’s Anthony LaPanta, the Wild have played 23 games with both out. The Wild’s record in those games is 10-10-3 with 2.22 goals per game. When either or both have been out, the Wild are 25-24-5 with 2.41 goals per game.
Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov make presence felt
Well, now you know why the Wild were the lowest scoring team at 2.27 goals per game since Jan. 9.
Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek missed a large chunk of the games since. They return to the lineup and the Wild magically fill the San Jose net seven times.
Joel Eriksson Ek jams one home in tight to put the Wild up 5-4 with 12 seconds left in the 2nd!#mnwild pic.twitter.com/ztHmvXFn57
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) April 10, 2025
Eriksson Ek returned to score his first four goals since Jan. 26 and Kaprizov scored his first goal since Dec. 23. Eriksson Ek scored two go-ahead goals and Kaprizov tied the score at 4-4 on a second-period four-on-three.
Eriksson Ek was his typical net front menace and had eight shots on goal and 11 attempted, while Kaprizov had nine shots and attempted six others.
Joel Eriksson Ek is back pic.twitter.com/wwrwIgrTXk
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) April 10, 2025
Not Fleury’s finest, but a win nonetheless
In what was his 566th and perhaps final home start of his career, Fleury made 23 saves for his 574th career win and first since Feb. 22.
On a night where his three children, Estelle, Scarlette and James, joined him on the ice for warmups and he had family and friends in the stands, including his longtime agent, Allan Walsh, Fleury at least left the rink victorious despite seven goals allowed and a handful he’d want back.
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Macklin Celebrini, who beat Fleury twice earlier this season in San Jose, scored three more goals for his first career hat trick and the Wild had to rally a handful of times. But in the end, Fleury finished his career with a 21-5-4 all-time record against the Sharks.
Still, there’s no way he was to be happy after the game, although to be fair, he was stale after barely being used since the 4 Nations Face-Off, as the Wild have tried to ride Filip Gustavsson to a playoff spot.
One reason why the Wild started Fleury for only the second time in the past 15 games is that the season finale against Anaheim could be a must-win. However, the Wild also want to make sure Gustavsson doesn’t go a minimum of eight days between starts when the playoffs begin.
But if that game against the Ducks ends up meaningless, there’s a chance Gustavsson starts and the Wild give Fleury one final sendoff in the third period. We’ll see. That’s to be determined.
A special moment for the Fleury family! 🥰
Marc-Andre’s children joined him on the ice tonight for the introductions and national anthem! pic.twitter.com/OTky0w4ta0
— NHL (@NHL) April 10, 2025
Sneak peek at playoff lines?
With Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek back in the lineup, it caused a domino effect and we have seen the forward lines Hynes is thinking for Game 1 of the playoffs.
Rossi centered Kaprizov and Zuccarello, Foligno played the left side of Eriksson Ek and Boldy, Johansson played the left side of Freddy Gaudreau and Gus Nyquist and Ryan Hartman centered Yakov Trenin and Justin Brazeau. Vinnie Hinostroza was scratched.
“Obviously (Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek’s return) changes the dynamic of your lines, and you have to move some things around,” Hynes said. “I think the most important thing is those guys have been off for a while. They worked hard to get back, and we want them to come back and get into the game and bring what they can bring.
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“But I also think at the same time, it’s important that guys understand their value to the team. And all of a sudden, maybe a line gets changed or a role gets changed. That’s one of the reasons why we are where we are, and we’re still continuing to fight, and we want to work our way to get into the playoffs, and one reason is because we’ve had guys be able to step up. And I think it’s important that everybody’s able to play their role, accept their role, and have value in it, and not take a breath.”
(Photo: Nick Wosika / Imagn Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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