Takeaways: Kirill Kaprizov’s second goal gives Wild 4-3 overtime victory over Red Wings

The goal-scoring slump that had been nagging at Kirill Kaprizov is officially over.

Kaprizov scored twice, including 45 seconds into overtime, to cap off a 4-3 comeback for the Wild over the Red Wings on Thursday, Jan. 22, in their return to Grand Casino Arena from a two-win trip.

“When you don’t score long time, I try don’t think about it,” said Kaprizov, who went five games without a goal. “But it’s always sometimes in your head. But it’s nice to win tonight and score.”

The superstar winger gave the Wild their first and only lead in 3-on-3 overtime after accepting the puck from Quinn Hughes, skating through Detroit’s coverage and wristing the puck by former Wild goaltender Cam Talbot for his franchise-leading 13th career OT goal, which is tied for the most in the NHL since his debut.

Mats Zuccarello delivered two tying goals in the third period after the Wild trailed 2-1 and 3-2 after first falling behind 1-0. Lucas Raymond had two of Detroit’s goals.

Zuccarello, Kaprizov and Hughes finished with three points apiece, with Hughes posting his fourth three-assist effort with the Wild. Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves, and Talbot had 35.

Patrick Kane, who is three points shy of passing Mike Modano’s 1,374 points to become the highest scoring American in NHL history, was held off the scoresheet by a healthier Wild.

Matt Boldy and Zach Bogosian remained out but are skating. Jonas Brodin is on the mend from surgery on a lower-body injury that’ll sideline him for the Olympics after he was picked to play for Sweden, but coach John Hynes said Brodin will heal up before the regular season ends.

This was the Wild’s third victory in four games after they were defeated 4-3 by Montreal on a Cole Caufield goal with 15 seconds left at the end of their trip.

The Wild also ended a five-game slide in St. Paul. They hadn’t won at home since Dec. 20 vs. Edmonton.

“After the second period, I feel like we probably deserved more goals than we got,” Hynes said. “But we didn’t veer away from the game. We dug in and continued to do what we were doing in the second. We stayed with it, and to me that’s growth.”

Despite playing the previous night, the Red Wings showed no signs of fatigue at the start, moving ahead 1-0 just 4:39 into the first period when Raymond threw the puck top-shelf on the power play.

The two sides stayed in lockstep for most of the second, with Talbot turning aside 17 Wild shots and Gustavsson almost as busy from his 14 stops. Detroit didn’t pull away until 3:38 remained in the second and the puck bounced from Johansson to Raymond, who deposited the puck five-hole on Gustavsson.

An aggressive Wild showed up for the third period.

On their first shift, Zuccarello backhanded in a Hughes rebound at 37 seconds.

The Red Wings retook the lead at 5:36 on a redirect by James van Riemsdyk, but Zuccarello answered back just 35 seconds later when he lifted in a loose puck outside the Detroit crease.

“He’s so smart,” Hughes said of Zuccarello. “He knows where to be. He makes so many plays. He’s extremely impressive, honestly.”

But Kaprizov hit the target in overtime to become the fourth Wild player to record 30 career game-winning goals.

“He’s had so many looks, and it’s nice to see him get rewarded,” Hynes said. “He probably could have had four tonight. I think he had two crossbars and had multiple looks. So, it’s nice that he was able to convert.”

Gustavsson earned his 100th career victory, and Hughes’ fourth three-assist game tied Kaprizov and Zuccarello for the most in a single Wild season. His 43 assists overall are tied for first in the NHL among defensemen.

BOXSCORE: Wild 4, Detroit 3 (OT)

NHL standings

Kaprizov was due for a performance like this.

Although he went goalless for five games, he has had plenty of chances and remained a dynamic playmaker: Just look at the seven assists he racked up on the last road trip.

But, Kaprizov is a goal scorer, and getting back to his bread-and-butter could be just the catalyst he needs to go on a tear for the Wild.