First-ever matchup against Ovechkin goes the way of Kaprizov

NASHVILLE --Two nights before the Wild was scheduled to play the Washington Capitals back in January, forward Kirill Kaprizov was checked into the boards awkwardly, sustaining an upper-body injury that prevented him from playing against one of his idols, Alex Ovechkin, in their first-ever matchup.
Back in St. Paul on the morning of the game, Kaprizov was seen chatting Ovechkin up outside the Capitals locker room, as two of the most iconic Russian-born players in the NHL had a lengthy conversation.
And while Ovechkin still has plenty of game, was there a virtual torch-passing on Sunday night when the Wild and Caps had a rematch at Capital One Arena in Washington?

Ovechkin, whose assist on Garnet Hathaway's third-period goal was his 1,399th point in the NHL, is chasing down one of the most hallowed records in league history: Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals mark.
"I'm happy that he's pursuing that," Kaprizov said through a translator. "It's just a matter of time before he actually breaks the record and I think it's going to be good for the game and for all of hockey as a whole for him to do that."

Kaprizov is in the midst of an outstanding second season in the NHL, one where he has already shattered the Wild's single-season points mark and has more than a dozen games remaining to try and extend it.
If he can get to 100 points, not only would he be the first Wild player to reach the century mark, he'd break Marian Gaborik's old club record by 18.
Kaprizov downplayed his level of respect for Ovechkin on Saturday night ahead of the first-ever matchup between the clubs, noting the handful of other Russian players on the Capitals roster that he knows well.
And while he's played with Evgeni Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Samsonov, perhaps the player he's been most associated with the last couple of years has been Ovechkin, simply because of the star power both players possess.
How much does Ovechkin mean to Kaprizov? Look no further than his tribute to the veteran forward at this season's All-Star Game Skills Competition. A couple of days before the event, Ovechkin was forced to pull out after a positive test for COVID-19.
In front of a league-wide audience, Kaprizov threw on an Ovechkin jersey, helmet and even the gold skate laces, impersonating the Russian icon's familiar on-ice mannerisms.

Kaprizov, a lefty, even shot the puck right-handed like Ovechkin does.
In games that count, that impersonation has translated this season, as Kaprizov's 85 points leads all Russian-born players in the NHL, putting him three clear of Artemi Panarin and six up on Ovechkin entering play Monday.
Only Ovechkin (42) has more goals among Russians than Kaprizov's 39, which is three goals shy of the team record in that category as well.
"Everybody knows he's a talented player with lots of skills," Ovechkin said. "It's great for the game."
One guy that knows each well is Wild coach Dean Evason, who served as an assistant coach in Washington for seven seasons from 2005-12.
Evason's first season in Washington was Ovechkin's rookie campaign, when the 2004 first overall selection burst onto the scene with 52 goals and 106 points.
He hasn't slowed down since.
Ovechkin has 772 career goals, a total which ranks third on the league's all-time list, 29 behind Gordie Howe and 122 behind Gretzky's mark. On his current pace, the eight-time 50-goal scorer (who has also tallied 49 and 48 goals, respectively, in two other seasons) should approach Gretzky's record midway through the 2024-25 season.
"He's a freak. He's an absolute freak," Evason said. "I got here the same year he got here, watched his progression and he is just physically and mentally, he's just strong. He's a freak of nature in all different ways.
"He's a great teammate. He's figured it out ... there was probably a stretch in the middle where it wasn't maybe about the team, and I think that happens with young players, But to watch him from the outside in, and to see him inside, he's an impressive player. But he's a great player as well."
At 6-foot-3 and nearly 240 pounds, Ovechkin is built much differently than the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Kaprizov.
But Evason said he does see some of the things that made Ovechkin great as a young player in his young protege with Minnesota.
"The physical nature of their games. Obviously he's not as big as Ovi ... but Kirill does have a lot of that," Evason said. "He has a low center of gravity, physically. But his willingness to engage physically on the ice is something that Ovechkin did from day one, and so did Kirill."
Much of that physicality comes from work off the ice. Kaprizov has made the social media rounds for some of the summer workouts he does back home in Russia, non-traditional strength exercises that have bolstered his smaller frame with a thickness.
Ovechkin has made some of his off-ice workouts look easy too.
"It's crazy. I remember one of the first times I saw him training in the room and there was hurdles set up and he was just bounding over them like nothing," Evason said. "So is it a surprise [that he's still producing at age 36]? Physically, no."