Wild's Kaprizov scores 1st playoff hat trick in franchise history to down Blues, even series

Kirill Kaprizov had a hat trick and Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice for the Minnesota Wild, who snapped back at the visiting St. Louis Blues with a 6-2 victory to even their first-round playoff series at one game apiece Wednesday night.

Frederic Gaudreau and Kaprizov scored on the power play for the Wild, who went 0 for 6 with the man advantage in their 4-0 defeat in Game 1 and were 1 for 9 against the Blues over three regular-season losses. The Wild beat their Central Division rival in regulation for only the third time in 16 games since the Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019.

The Blues, who lost defenceman Robert Bortuzzo to injury after he blocked a shot with the side of his face in the first period, didn't score on Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury until Jordan Kyrou's rebound midway through the second on a power play.

Eriksson Ek assisted on Kaprizov's first goal, a much-needed score on the power play that gave the Wild a 3-0 lead late in the first period.

Kaprizov, the precocious Russian star who set franchise records this season with 47 goals and 108 points, made it 5-2 with a slick tap-in of Mats Zuccarello's pass on the rush. He added an empty-netter with 7:08 left after the Blues pulled goalie Ville Husso in their last-ditch effort.

In between Kaprizov's scores, Eriksson Ek thought he had a hat trick himself. So did the dozens who tossed their caps on the ice, but a Blues challenge for offside erased that goal.

Eriksson Ek, the 2015 first-round draft pick from Sweden who was a Selke award finalist last summer for the NHL's best defensive forward, has elevated his offence in a big way during this first season of the eight-year, $42 million contract he signed last summer.

Eriksson Ek broke Husso's scoreless streak at 69:33 when he scored on Minnesota's first on-target shot. After Bortuzzo's stick broke on a clearing attempt, Jordan Greenway grabbed the puck and — passing it right past the defenceless Bortuzzo — fed Eriksson Ek on the sweet spot of his stick for the one-timer.

The Wild kept the same power-play lineup after their Game 1 struggle, and Gaudreau delivered on the first opportunity. After Justin Faulk was called for high-sticking, Husso left a juicy rebound of Jonas Brodin's slap shot out front that Gaudreau knocked in.

A little later on that power play, Eriksson Ek's redirect resulted in a rebound that Kaprizov tipped off the post. With Kevin Fiala crashing hard to the net, Husso couldn't stop the puck from sliding past the goal line.

Then, just 51 seconds into the second period, Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 4-0 lead. He stole a sloppy pass from Tarasenko that was supposed to go to Calle Rosen and deked Husso with a forehand-to-backhand dangle to poke the puck in for a glove-side goal.

The Wild were exasperated by their special teams struggles in Game 1. Though they didn't stop taking avoidable penalties — giving the Blues three power plays in the second period — they killed four of them and did a much better job of controlling the rebounds Fleury kicked out.

Fleury made 32 saves for his 91st postseason win, his first with the Wild. The Xcel Energy Center crowd, which was buzzing all night, took a break from taunting Husso with a serenade of Fleury's last name late in the game.

Bortuzzo's departure left the Blues awfully thin on the blue line. Nick Leddy was scratched with an upper-body injury he sustained but played through in Game 1. Marco Scandella has not played in the series due to a lower-body injury.

Hurricanes take testy win over Bruins

Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter each scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame the early loss of goalie Antti Raanta to beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

Jesper Fast had the game's first goal for Carolina in another strong offensive showing to start this series. Rookie goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov came on in relief of Raanta to finish with 30 saves.

The Hurricanes also played with a physical edge against a Boston team that has knocked them out of the playoffs twice in three post-seasons. And it came in a game that quickly went from competitive to feisty and downright ornery in quick fashion — namely after Boston's David Pastrnak knocked Raanta from the game midway through the first period when he struck the goaltender in the head with a gloved hand as he tried to skate past him.

Already down injured No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen to start the playoffs, Carolina turned to Kochetkov as Raanta exited while bleeding from an apparent mouth injury.

Patrice Bergeron scored both of Boston's goals, the first on a loose rebound in the second and then another on a redirection near the crease in the third. Linus Ullmark surrendered four goals for the second straight game and finished with 29 saves.

After Raanta's exit, the teams constantly traded words and hits, along with repeatedly tussling after the whistle. There was the jarring shoulder-to-chest blast by Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov that leveled Hampus Lindholm and left him wobbly as he was helped to the locker room late in the second.

It was part of a busy night in the box for the Bruins, who had 13 penalties for 28 minutes. The Hurricanes converted twice on on the power play, including Niederreiter's finish at the crease on a 5-on-3 sequence for the 4-1 lead at 18:52 of the second.

Niederreiter's second goal was an empty-netter in the final minute. Moments later, the game fittingly ended with the teams needing to be separated once more after the final horn.