Ryan Hartman's game-winner, Kirill Kaprizov's two goals lift Wild over Predators

Hartman's game-winner gave the Wild a crucial 4-3 victory in the Western Conference playoff race.
Ryan Hartman's game-winner, Kirill Kaprizov's two goals lift Wild over Predators
Ryan Hartman's game-winner, Kirill Kaprizov's two goals lift Wild over Predators /

Ryan Hartman's goal with 20.4 seconds left gave the Minnesota Wild a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday afternoon.

The Wild spent most of the game on top and had a 3-1 lead with five minutes left in the third period but Roman Josi chipped into the lead with his goal at 15:04 of the third period and Nino Niederreiter tied the game with an extra attacker with 47 seconds left in regulation.

That's when the Wild answered as Jonas Brodin's shot went off the chest of Hartman and past Juuse Saros for the game-winner.

The rest of the game was encouraging for the Wild as they got a pair of goals from Kirill Kaprizov.

After Brandon Duhaime put the Wild on the board nine seconds into the second period, Kaprizov scored his first goal on the power play to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.

After Tommy Novak made it a 2-1 game with his goal at 17:03 of the second period, Kaprizov had a one-on-one breakaway in the third period, sending a shot over Saros's blocker to put the Wild up 3-1.

The Predators rallied from there but Filip Gustavsson was solid from there, making 23 saves on 26 shots to give the Wild the victory.

The Wild improved to 30-21-5 on the season and kept them in the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 65 points. Minnesota will look for its third straight win when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.


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Chris Schad
CHRIS SCHAD