Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 4, Kings 2

On Friday night, the Wild scored a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Wild.com's Dan Myers provides three takeaways in the Postgame Hat Trick, presented by Associated Bank. Learn more on how to score up to $500 by opening a Wild Checking account.

1. Kirill the Thrill hits Hollywood.
Poor Mikey Anderson.
The Fridley native and former Hill-Murray Pioneer is going to be on a number of Kirill Kaprizov highlight reels for years to come after the rookie forward toe-dragged around the defenseman en route to his 20th goal of the season on Friday night.
Kaprizov's goal extended his goal-scoring streak to four games. Along with the 20-goal campaign, Kaprizov is the first rookie in team history to accomplish both feats.

Some interesting additional numbers, courtesy of Wild PR maven Megan Kogut: Kaprizov's goal marked the fifth time this season he's scored the first goal of the game, a total which ranked tied for sixth-most in the NHL.
It was the ninth time he's scored the Wild's first goal of the game, including the fifth time in the past 12 games.
But Kaprizov wasn't done.
With the game tied in the second period, the Kings made the mistake of giving the young sniper too much time and space. And Kaprizov did what snipers do, rifling a shot past the southpaw Cal Petersen in goal, providing the Wild with a lead it wouldn't surrender.

All of the sudden, Kaprizov is approaching top-10 status in the NHL in total goals, a category in which he currently leads all rookies.
The #KirillForCalder push is on for sure, but how about the Hart Trophy? Certainly think he'll at least get some consideration, especially if the Wild finishes the regular season the way it has gone so far.
The game marked the eighth and final game of the regular season between the Wild and Kings ... and Los Angeles will certainly be happy to see Kaprizov go on his merry way. More than a quarter of Kirill's 21 goals this season (six) have come against the Kings - tied for the second-most goals against by a rookie in Kings franchise history.
2. One red-hot rookie to another.
With the #KirillForCalder movement in full force, and goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen's outstanding run this season garnering its share of headlines as well, yet another Wild rookie reminded folks that, hey, he's been pretty good too.
That rookie is Nico Sturm.
It's tough to believe that Sturm is a rookie because he's been a pro for a couple of years now, but he is in fact considered a rook, because he entered this season with just a handful of games under his belt.

Well, Sturm has continued to make the most of his first real shot at being an NHL regular by scoring his eighth goal of the season on Friday night - and a big one at that: Sturm's goal midway through the third period doubled Minnesota's lead, turning a 2-1 game into a 3-1 game.
That became especially huge when Anze Kopitar scored with under five minutes left in regulation. Sturm's goal stood up as the game winner, his second of the season.
The goals didn't come at first for Sturm, who needed 21 games to score his first official goal in the League. But they've come far more often of late, as the former Clarkson University standout has scored four goals over his past seven games.
3. Shots? Who needs shots?
There are a bunch of stats in hockey whose importance are often debated. Plus/minus is one. And shots on goal might be another.
Quality over quantity, right?
That's certainly been the motto of the Wild lately. Minnesota extended its overall winning streak to six games and hasn't outshot an opponent one time during that span.
Small sample size though, right?
Well, the Wild has actually gone quite a bit longer than that since outshooting an opponent. How long? How about more than a month. Minnesota hasn't posted more shots on goal than its opponent since a March 14 win against the Arizona Coyotes.
That included a 42-24 margin in favor of the Kings on Friday.
The Wild's record during that month-long stretch is now 12-5-2.
Cam Talbot has been a big part of that, obviously, and the veteran netminder was on point again on Friday, making 40 saves - 48 hours after making 39 saves in a win in Arizona. Talbot finishes the season with a perfect 4-0-0 record against the Kings.