11 goals in 11 games and the club's record for assists among rookies: how Caprice becomes the new Russian star in the NHL

Kirill Kaprizov remains one of the most talked about hockey players of the current NHL season. The newcomer "Minnesota Wild" managed to rewrite several club records and is currently ranked second in the list of the league's top scorers among Russians, behind only Artemy Panarin in this indicator. Another benefit of the striker was in a confrontation with Anaheim Ducks, during which he acted as both an assistant and a goal scorer.

Already in the eighth minute of the first period, Whims took part in the effective attack of the hosts and helped them restore equality in the score. The 97th number opened behind the opponent's goal, received a pass from Mats Tsucarello and, in a touchdown, redirected the puck to Viktor Rask, who was approaching a nickle. The Swede easily outplayed John Gibson and helped the Russian to chalk up his 22nd assist of the season. Earlier in the history of "Wild" no newcomer has been able to achieve this, and the previous record belonged to Philip Cuba (21). And this despite the fact that the Czech needed to play 22 more matches - 75.

Subsequently, the teams distinguished themselves two more times, as a result of which the determination of the winner was postponed until overtime.

And it was at this moment that Caprice took over the role of leader again.

In the five-minute debut, the striker grabbed the puck in his third of the site, single-handedly broke through to someone else's goal and upset Gibson on the second try.

Thus, the Russian scored for the second time this season in overtime and came out on top in this indicator among compatriots and fourth in the entire league.

And the title of the second star of the day became a pleasant addition.

It is not surprising that at the end of the meeting, the Minnesota partners were amazed at the performance of Kaprizov.

The same Joel Eriksson Eck admired the actions of the Russian and admitted that he considers him a “special player”.

“Every time he gets the puck, you literally feel that Kirill can do something incredible with it. And the whole arena feels it. It doesn't matter who Caprice plays against, who takes care of him. He creates a lot of scoring chances, and this is very great for Minnesota ... I repeat that he is a special hockey player, and we all talk about this often. There is a lot of energy in his game. The whims always burn with the desire to win. He is a great teammate. Fights for the puck in every episode, than turns on the rest of the guys, makes the team around him better. We are glad that he has such a will to win and a passion for the puck. This is very cool, "the press service of the NHL quotes Ericsson Eck.

It is worth noting that over the past week the Minnesota hockey players have had enough reasons to admire Kaprizov's skill. In none of the last five matches did the striker leave the ice without glasses, thanks to which he repeated his own record for the length of a successful streak. At the same time, he was especially piqued during two paired meetings with "Vegas". In the first of them, he scored a goal and an assist and helped Wild to win in regulation time, and in the second he scored a double. It's a shame that then the partners did not support the Russian's impulse and Wild lost in overtime (2: 3).

At the same time, one of the most discussed episodes of the second match was the brawl with the participation of Kaprizov. In the middle of the first period, he did not very well handle the puck in the middle zone and fell under a tough power technique performed by Nicholas Hug. The Russian's teammates did not like this attitude towards their young star, and therefore a massive fight broke out on the ice. Cyril himself did not stand aside and rushed to the defender Zach Whitecloud. Moreover, he was not embarrassed by the fact that the 24-year-old Canadian is heavier than him by five kilograms (96) and 13 centimeters taller. Although the Minnesota forward missed a few shots, he moved his opponent to the ground in time, making a classic one-leg pass. On the ground, the advantage was already on his side, as indicated by the broken nose of the vis-a-vis.

I also remember Kaprizov's hat-trick in the confrontation against Arizona or a goal and two assists in his debut game with Los Angeles. But unlike many newcomers, Kirill is striking in his stability - an unusual quality for players who have not previously played in the overseas league. Since April 18, he played 11 matches and chalked up 11 goals and three assists, failing to excel in only two meetings. And if by the number of points the forward of "Minnesota" became only seventh during this period, then by the number of goals scored he took first place. The closest pursuer was Sam Reinhart from Buffalo, who hit the opponents' goal ten times.

Thus, three matches before the end of the regular season, Caprice has 49 (27 + 22) points and is not only Wild's top scorer, but also the main Russian sniper of the season. On the NHL list, he is ahead of even nine-time Maurice Richard Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin and shares seventh place with Brad Marchand. Yes, you won't be able to compete with Auston Matthews (40 goals), but even this result can be considered more than impressive.

In general, we can already say that Kaprizov spent one of the brightest debut seasons in the NHL among Russian hockey players. At first glance, it may not seem like that, because the same Ovechkin chalked up 106 (52 + 54) points in the 2005/06 season, and Yevgeny Malkin burst into 85 points a year later (33 + 52). But it must be borne in mind that the current regular season includes only 56 meetings instead of the usual 82, in connection with which it is necessary to pay attention not to the total number of points scored, but to their average number per game.

At the moment, Kaprizov has an average of 0.92 points per match - the eighth result among Russian hockey players in the league in the first season.

Alexey Yashin (0.95), Artemy Panarin (0.96), Sergey Fedorov (1.03), Alexey Zhamnov (1.06) and Sergey Makarov (1.08) are located a little higher.

The aforementioned Malkin (1.09) and Ovechkin (1.31) are at the top of the rating.

If we take into account only the goals, then whims here looks even more impressive.

On average, he scores 0.51 goals per meeting - the third indicator among domestic players.

Only the same Ovechkin (0.64) and Pavel Bure (0.52) bypass him.

However, Kirill still has time to rise to the second line.

Given such successes, it is not surprising that Kaprizov is already considered the new Russian star of the NHL and parallels are drawn between the newly minted leader of Minnesota and the current captain of Washington.

Moreover, the conversation is not about the manner of play, but about the impact on the team.

Even on the eve of the championship, a similar opinion was expressed by the mentor of "Wild" Dean Evason, and later the famous journalist of The Athletic Michael Russo agreed with this.

“He didn't compare him as a player, it was a comparison about how Caprice affects the team.

Kirill is an important person in the Minnesota dressing room.

A team is formed around him.

This is where parallels can be drawn with Ovechkin.

People are attracted to Kaprizov, people admire him.

Ovi came to America at a young age, and as soon as he entered the Capitals locker room, he conquered everyone, "Russo explained the Kaprizov phenomenon.

With regard to the impact on the team, then Kaprizov's achievements should not be underestimated.

This season, Minnesota have 34 wins in 53 games, as well as 68.9% of the points scored - the best team result in history.

For comparison, “Washington” in the 2005/06 championship scored only 42.7% of points - less only for “St. Louis”, “Pittsburgh” and “Chicago”.

Of course, in terms of playing style, Kirill and Alexander are noticeably different.

And the reason here lies largely in the difference in size.

The whims are 16 centimeters below Ovechkin (175 cm - 191 cm) and simply cannot act in the same forceful manner as the leader of the Capitals.

However, he is very technical, aimed at the goal and is not afraid to take the game on himself, which allows him to put him on a par with his compatriot.

The only question is whether Caprice will be able to progress at the same speed as Ovechkin, and whether he will feel as confident in the second season. The first one has already turned out to be outstanding, as evidenced by both a number of broken records and the status of the main contender for the Calder Trophy. Jason Robertson from Dallas (16 + 27) can compete with him in the dispute for the award, but it seems unlikely.