Wild defeat Canucks in OT for first win, deny Boudreau 600th victory

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kirill Kaprizov scored at 3:02 of overtime, and the Minnesota Wild won for the first time this season, 4-3 against the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

With Marc-Andre Fleury pulled for the extra skater on a delayed penalty, Kaprizov scored on a rebound at the side of the net.
"Having the first three games very challenging and not winning, every single shift feels like it's tiring when you make a lot of mistakes, you don't do well in your own zone, every shift seems difficult," Kaprizov said. "… You try, work hard and maybe feel better, and after a win, of course, it's no pressure now. A little bit easy."
Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau was denied his 600th NHL win for the sixth straight time, dating back to the finale last season.
"I told the players today. I said, 'One of the things when you're not winning because you want to win so bad, you start learning good habits,'" Boudreau said. "The good habits keep coming. You might still lose for a couple, but once you get those good habits down, then you start winning and you keep those good habits. It's usually a way to be successful."
Kaprizov had three points, Mats Zuccarello scored twice, and Alex Goligoski played his 1,000th NHL game for Minnesota, which went 1-3-0 on a season-opening homestand. Fleury made 23 saves.
"Finally, at home, get a win, came back, we were down twice, came back into it and finally won is a good feeling," Fleury said.

Dakota Joshua and Nils Aman each had a goal and an assist, and Thatcher Demko made 33 saves for the Canucks, who have lost two straight in overtime and finished 0-3-2 on their season-opening road trip.
"I mean, it's no secret that we're all frustrated," Vancouver captain Bo Horvat said. "I mean, when your play is, in my opinion, probably as good a 60 minutes we play all year, and we just can't find a way to get a win ... that's where experience has to come in, leadership. We've got to find a way to dig deep to try and get over that hump right now. I think once we do, things are going to turn around for us."
Zuccarello gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 4:37 of the first period. Ryan Hartman worked the puck out from along the boards and passed to Zuccarello in the slot for a one-timer.
It was the first time Minnesota scored first this season.
Horvat tied it 1-1 at 7:58, one-timing a backhand pass from Tanner Pearson.
Aman scored his first NHL goal at 16:47 to put Vancouver ahead 2-1. Joshua backpedaled into the offensive zone and slid the puck to Aman, who beat Fleury. It was Aman's fifth game.
"Of course, always fun to score," Aman said. "Get a nice pass from Joshua and had some speed, so just trying to get to the net, and it went in. But it [stinks] to lose."

Kaprizov sent a no-look pass to Sam Steel, who scored from just inside the left face-off circle at 19:00 to tie it 2-2.
Joshua scored off his own rebound for a 3-2 lead at 13:37 of the second period. It was his first goal for the Canucks after signing a two-year contract July 13.
Zuccarello redirected a Kaprizov pass for a power-play goal to tie it 3-3 at 8:31 of the third period.
"Today it was a good, full, team effort," Zuccarello said. "Two points, then you can be happy."
NOTES:Wild forward Jordan Greenway, who made his season debut after having shoulder surgery in the offseason, left after the first period with an upper-body injury. Minnesota coach Dean Evason said Greenway will not play against the Boston Bruins on Saturday. … Kaprizov's five overtime goals trail only Alex DeBrincat (7) and Connor McDavid (6) for the most among skaters since he entered the NHL in 2020-21. … Canucks defenseman Riley Stillman left during the second period with an undisclosed injury. There was no update. … Horvat extended his goal streak to three games (four goals).