Kaprizov’s 10th Goal Lifts Wild Past Blue Jackets, 2-1

Kirill Kaprizov’s 10th goal of the season broke a second-period tie, and the Minnesota Wild held the Columbus Blue Jackets to two third-period shots in a 2-1 win Sunday, October 18, at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.

Danila Yurov also scored for Minnesota, which outshot Columbus 34-14. Jesper Wallstedt made 13 saves. Cam Talbot stopped 32 shots for the Blue Jackets, keeping the margin at one through a second period in which the Wild had a 15-5 shot advantage.

Scoring and team comparison

Kaprizov supplies the deciding goal

Minnesota’s early power plays did not produce a goal. Conor Garland’s holding penalty at 2:03 of the first was followed eight seconds later by a cross-checking minor to Charlie Coyle, giving the Wild an extended five-on-three opportunity. Columbus killed both penalties and reached the final two minutes of the period with the game scoreless.

Yurov opened the scoring at 18:12 with his fourth goal of the season, a wrist shot with Yakov Trenin collecting the assist. Adam Fantilli answered exactly a minute later, assisted by Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan. The NHL recorded Fantilli’s goal as even strength, but Talbot was off for a sixth skater. It was an extra-attacker goal rather than a five-on-five score.

Denton Mateychuk’s high-sticking penalty at 1:50 of the second gave Minnesota another chance. Kaprizov converted 76 seconds into the advantage, with Maxim Shabanov and Joel Eriksson Ek earning assists. That power-play goal was the game’s last.

The Wild killed Matt Boldy’s hooking minor midway through the second and finished 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. They went 1-for-4 on the power play. Columbus took a tripping penalty with 4:53 left in the third, limiting the time it had available to pursue an equalizer at even strength.

Boldy led Minnesota with six shots, followed by Kaprizov with five. Quinn Hughes played a team-high 25:21. Werenski led Columbus in shots with three and logged 28:43, the most ice time of any skater in the game.

What the coaches and players said

John Hynes saw more than a goal in Danila Yurov’s performance. In NHL.com’s written postgame report, the Wild coach described a player whose skating, confidence and attacking instincts were catching up with his understanding of the game without the puck. Hynes projected Yurov as a center for one of Minnesota’s top two lines.

Jesper Wallstedt said Minnesota had anticipated an opponent playing on consecutive nights, while respecting Columbus’ performance the previous evening. He felt the Wild controlled much of the game and resisted the Blue Jackets’ pushes.

Rick Bowness distinguished Columbus’ effort from its execution. “The execution wasn’t there,” the Blue Jackets coach said in the same report. He credited his team’s work but said it could not establish a consistent flow. Adam Fantilli described passes into teammates’ feet and difficult receiving positions, saying Columbus needed to work more intelligently. He credited Cam Talbot with keeping the game close.

On Kaprizov’s winner, Talbot acknowledged leaving too much room and credited the placement of the shot.

Five-on-five control across Minnesota’s lines

Minnesota’s advantage extended beyond its winning power play. With both goalies present at five-on-five, the Wild led 30-8 in shots on goal and scored the only goal. The shared-time sample covered 48:36.

The Eriksson Ek, Kaprizov and Boldy combination spent 12:34 together and generated a 12-3 shot advantage. Minnesota also had favorable shot counts with Blake Coleman, Ryan Hartman and Bobby Brink together, and with Tyler Pitlick, Michael McCarron and Rieger Lorenz. The latter trio’s 7:20 produced five Minnesota shots and none for Columbus.

Trenin, Yurov and Shabanov finished level at 3-3 in shots during 7:11 together, but supplied the five-on-five goal. Zach Bogosian and Daemon Hunt were the defensemen on that scoring shift; their shared minutes produced a 9-1 shot advantage. The Columbus group on the ice was Kent Johnson, Matthew Knies and Fantilli, backed by Erik Gudbranson and Carson Soucy.

Columbus’ longest-used forward combinations had difficulty creating shots. Johnson, Knies and Fantilli were outshot 9-2 in 13:12; Coyle, Mathieu Olivier and Cole Sillinger were outshot 9-0 in 10:46. Monahan, Valeri Nichushkin and Garland provided a better spell, with a 3-2 advantage in 6:31. These totals describe how the game unfolded with each group, while the shot count does not measure the quality of its chances.

Unit method: official NHL shift intervals were matched with play-by-play, requiring five skaters per team and both goalies present. Shots on goal include goals. Shared time uses the overlap of each group’s shifts; shots and goals are assigned to the personnel on the ice immediately before an event at a change boundary. Official times have one-second precision. The tables show every trio and pair with at least 2:00 together. Special teams and extra-attacker play, including Fantilli’s goal, are excluded. Occasional four-forward formations mean trio and pair times do not each sum to the full team sample.

What comes next

Both teams play Tuesday, October 20. Columbus hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nationwide Arena at 5 p.m. MDT. Minnesota visits the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place at 7 p.m. MDT.

Complete player and penalty reference

Open each panel for the full official box score. Tables scroll horizontally on phones. G: goals; A: assists; P: points; +/−: plus/minus; SOG: shots on goal; PPG: power-play goals; HIT: hits; BLK: blocked shots; GV: giveaways; TK: takeaways; PIM: penalty minutes; FO%: faceoff win percentage; TOI: time on ice. The NHL box score can show 0.0 FO% for a player with no faceoff attempts.

Minnesota Wild: all 18 skaters

Minnesota Wild complete skater box score

No.	Player	Pos.	G	A	P	+/−	SOG	PPG	HIT	BLK	GV	TK	PIM	FO%	TOI	Shifts
10	Bobby Brink	R	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.0	16:06	15
12	Matt Boldy	L	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	1	0	2	100.0	21:50	18
13	Yakov Trenin	C	0	1	1	1	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0.0	12:40	14
14	Joel Eriksson Ek	C	0	1	1	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	0	61.5	21:18	18
19	Tyler Pitlick	C	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0.0	08:16	9
20	Blake Coleman	L	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	16:27	18
22	Danila Yurov	R	1	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	66.7	14:57	15
38	Ryan Hartman	R	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	1	2	2	0	45.5	13:08	14
47	Michael McCarron	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1	0	1	0	36.4	11:28	13
49	Maxim Shabanov	R	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.0	13:32	11
61	Rieger Lorenz	L	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	0.0	08:22	8
97	Kirill Kaprizov	L	1	0	1	-1	5	1	0	0	2	0	0	0.0	22:32	18
24	Zach Bogosian	D	0	0	0	1	4	0	1	1	0	0	2	0.0	21:08	23
25	Jonas Brodin	D	0	0	0	-1	0	0	1	3	2	1	0	0.0	22:54	26
26	Matt Kiersted	D	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.0	12:30	13
43	Quinn Hughes	D	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	0.0	25:21	22
48	Daemon Hunt	D	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0.0	19:25	20
82	David Spacek	D	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0.0	14:06	17

Columbus Blue Jackets: all 18 skaters

Columbus Blue Jackets complete skater box score

No.	Player	Pos.	G	A	P	+/−	SOG	PPG	HIT	BLK	GV	TK	PIM	FO%	TOI	Shifts
3	Charlie Coyle	C	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	2	1	2	43.8	19:41	21
4	Cole Sillinger	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	100.0	13:37	17
19	Adam Fantilli	C	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	2	1	0	0	53.3	21:18	20
23	Sean Monahan	C	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	55.6	17:02	20
24	Mathieu Olivier	R	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	1	0	0	0.0	18:04	23
43	Valeri Nichushkin	R	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	0	0	1	0	0.0	16:33	20
58	Danton Heinen	L	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0.0	08:15	11
83	Conor Garland	R	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	0	1	1	2	0.0	11:21	16
89	Matthew Knies	L	0	0	0	-1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	19:55	19
91	Kent Johnson	C	0	0	0	-1	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0.0	18:52	19
93	Luca Del Bel Belluz	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	25.0	07:45	10
94	Ryan Lomberg	L	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	07:23	10
2	Jake Christiansen	D	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	1	0	0.0	16:47	22
5	Denton Mateychuk	D	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	2	0.0	19:54	23
7	Carson Soucy	D	0	0	0	-1	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0.0	11:52	17
8	Zach Werenski	D	0	1	1	1	3	0	0	1	4	0	0	0.0	28:43	25
44	Erik Gudbranson	D	0	0	0	-1	0	0	1	1	1	0	2	0.0	14:19	20
78	Damon Severson	D	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	0	0	0.0	23:23	26

Both teams: goalies and unused backups

Goalie box score; unused backups did not play

Team	Goalie	Status	Saves	Shots faced	GA	SV%	TOI	EV saves/shots	PP saves/shots	SH saves/shots	EV GA	PP GA	SH GA	PIM
MIN	Jesper Wallstedt	starter (W)	13	14	1	.929	60:00	9/10	4/4	0/0	1	0	0	0
MIN	Calvin Pickard	unused backup	0	0	0	N/A	00:00	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0
CBJ	Cam Talbot	starter (L)	32	34	2	.941	58:00	29/30	3/4	0/0	1	1	0	0
CBJ	Jet Greaves	unused backup	0	0	0	N/A	00:00	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0	0

GA: goals allowed; SV%: save percentage; EV: even strength; PP: opponent power play; SH: opponent shorthanded. Strength splits show saves/shots faced. The NHL even-strength category includes extra-attacker play. No save percentage is defined for an unused goalie. Team giveaways include goalie giveaways.

All six penalties

Complete penalty log

Period	Time	Team	Player	Infraction	Minutes	Drawn by
1	02:03	CBJ	Conor Garland	holding	2	Matt Kiersted
1	02:11	CBJ	Charlie Coyle	cross-checking	2	Matt Boldy
1	08:57	MIN	Zach Bogosian	tripping	2	Matthew Knies
2	01:50	CBJ	Denton Mateychuk	high-sticking	2	Blake Coleman
2	12:34	MIN	Matt Boldy	hooking	2	Charlie Coyle
3	15:07	CBJ	Erik Gudbranson	tripping	2	Danila Yurov

Official video and source access

Each scoring link above opens the NHL’s official goal clip. The following links open official postgame videos.

• John Hynes’ postgame availability (5:55).
• Kirill Kaprizov’s postgame interview (4:44).
• Jesper Wallstedt’s postgame interview (3:45).
• Daemon Hunt’s postgame interview (2:07).
• Matt Kiersted’s postgame interview (2:20).
• Columbus’ postgame media from Minnesota (8:26).

Statistical sources: NHL Gamecenter, official final box score, official play-by-play and NHL shift charts. Reaction is attributed to Heather Rule’s NHL.com postgame report. Next fixtures: Columbus schedule and Minnesota schedule.