Fleury, Kaprizov help Wild defeat Hurricanes, keep pace in Central

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves and the Minnesota Wild extended their point streak to nine games in a 3-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Saturday.

Fleury is 3-0-0 with Minnesota since he was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on March 21.
Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov each had a goal and an assist for the Wild (42-20-5), who are 8-0-1 in their past nine games. Minnesota is second in the Central Division, 15 points behind the Colorado Avalanche and three points ahead of the St. Louis Blues.
"[Fleury] won the game for us today," Zuccarello said. "They had some really good chances in the second period. We were a little loose. We were lucky in that category."
Kaprizov had an assist on Zuccarello's goal to set Minnesota's single-season points record with 84, passing Marian Gaborik (2007-08); his goal gave him 85 points (39 goals, 46 assists). He also tied a Wild record with a six-game goal streak.
"It's a huge accomplishment for me," Kaprizov said. "I'd like to thank all of my teammates, all the coaching staff, everyone in the organization who made it possible."

Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Hurricanes (45-16-8), whose point streak ended at six games. Frederik Andersen made 16 saves. Carolina leads the New York Rangers by five points for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
"I have no qualms about the way we came out and played tonight," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "That's a good team. I know we didn't give up that much and that's really the key."
Zuccarello's power-play goal gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 10:20 of the first period. He scored on wrist shot from above the left face-off circle.
"'Zuc' decided to take all the responsibility all to himself for that one," Kaprizov said. "I gave him a pretty innocent pass and he did the rest. Thanks to him, and of course, it was special."
Kulikov made it 2-0 at 4:10 of the second period when he scored off a backhand feed from Tyson Jost.
Fleury faced 15 shots in the second period. The 37-year-old made a shoulder save on Brady Skjei in close, stopped Nino Niederreiter cutting through the slot and made a blocker save on a one timer by Martin Necas.
"They have different guys coming and a lot of guys at the net for tips and rebounds and screens," Fleury said. "Those are hard sometimes because they're always moving. But I thought our guys kept it on the outside and had good sticks to defend those plays much of the time."
Brind'Amour played six seasons against Fleury in the NHL.
"Tonight, the thing that gets overlooked, there were about three that were tipped, and he made the adjustment off the tip, which doesn't happen very often with goalies," the Hurricanes coach said. "He is quick enough still to make the adjustment. That was impressive to see."
Kaprizov scored from a sharp angle inside the left post for a 3-0 lead at 7:24 of the third period.

The Hurricanes cut the lead to 3-1 at 13:41 when Teravainen redirected a pass from Sebastian Aho at the net.
NOTES: Kaprizov has scored nine points (seven goals, two assist) in a six-game goal and point streak. The other two Wild players with six-game goal streaks: Niederreiter in 2017-18 and Brian Rolston in 2007-08. … Minnesota's 19 shots were a season low. … Aho (four goals, four assists) and Teravainen (two goals, eight assists) each extended point streaks to seven games. ... Skjei tied his career high in shots with seven. … Vincent Trocheck won 14 of 18 face-offs for the Hurricanes.