Russian revolution in St. Paul as Wild dominate Capitals

With the Washington Capitals in town fans who came to Grand Casino Arena hoping to see a Russian sniper illuminate the goal light absolutely got what they were expecting Sort of Capitals legend Alexander Ovechkin was held scoreless but Wild veteran Vladimir Tarasenko had a pair of goals helping Minnesota to a - win on Tuesday It was a Russian-dominated night for the Wild with Kirill Kaprizov and Danila Yurov after a pretty assist by Tarasenko also scoring Matt Boldy added a late shorthanded goal The fifth accomplishment in a row for the Wild came due in part to a -save shutout performance from goalie Filip Gustavsson and avenged a lopsided loss to the Capitals earlier in the season Kaprizov scored in the second period and made franchise history in the process His th career power play goal moved Kaprizov ahead of Zach Parise for the majority man advantage goals in franchise history It was also Kaprizov s th career goal which places him second on the Wild s career list one better than Mikko Koivu The franchise record of is held by Marian Gaborik Minnesota emerged from the first period with a lead after Tarasenko wired the squad s first shot on goal past the Caps goalie with a wrist shot from the high slot It was Tarasenko s fourth goal of the season and his first at home since Nov After the Wild killed the battle s first power play the lead nearly doubled but Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren thwarted Marcus Foligno s breakaway with a glove save On the next shift Gusvatsson did the same making a left pad save on Connor McMichael s breakaway attempt Already thin on the blue line the Wild lost defenseman Daemon Hunt in the first after what appeared to be a knee-on-knee collision with Washington center Ethen Frank Minnesota in the end created selected breathing room on a second period power play when a long-range shot by Quinn Hughes hit traffic in front but Kaprizov backhanded the rebound past Lindgren for a - lead Matt Kiersted playing his second battle for the Wild assisted on Boldy s shorthanded goal I t was Kiersted s first point in the Minnesota uniform Lindgren the former Lakeville North and St Cloud State star had saves for Washington which had beaten the Wild - in October at their home rink a limited blocks from the White House The Wild have a brief break in their homestanding procedures in December paying their only visit of the season to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday The opening faceoff is scheduled for p m CT Columbus beat the Wild - in Minnesota s home opener on Oct Briefly One of the bigger ovations of the night came during a first period media timeout when Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch was shown on the arena s video screen Finch who has led the Wolves to the Western Conference final the past two seasons was taking in the meeting from a suite Wolves power forward Julius Randle attending the championship with his family posted a social media video welcoming Hughes to Minnesota Related Articles Amid the Hughes hype Matt Kiersted makes a quiet Wild debut Quinn Hughes extremely open-minded about a Wild extension Minnesota Hockey Hall of Fame coming to Inver Grove Heights Quinn Hughes pledges even better days ahead after dazzling debut with Wild All smiles as Wild rout Boston in Quinn Hughes debut