Kirill Kaprizov gets hat trick as Wild thump Blues, even series

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The scoreless streak for the Minnesota Wild was pushing 70 minutes when they finally caught a break with a broken St. Louis stick.

Joel Eriksson Ek got the game's first goal a few seconds later, and the entire Wild bench jumped up in elation — with a bit of relief.

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

"It’s for sure helping to build confidence, knowing you can take the lead and run with it," Eriksson Ek said.

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.

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Minnesota Wild's Kirill Kaprizov (97) scores his third goal of the night, against St. Louis Blues goalie Ville Husso during the third period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Wednesday, May 4, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. The Wild won 6-2.  (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

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

"Once you know it hit him in the head, obviously that’s really scary," St. Louis defenseman Colton Parayko said. "As a teammate and a friend, it’s