On record scoring pace, Kirill Kaprizov still says 'I'm not showing my best performance'

A second-half slowdown has stunted the Wild's climb, but the spiral hasn't interrupted a different ascent.

Kirill Kaprizov continues to pick up points at a rapid rate, so much so that he's on track to have the most successful individual season in team history and become the Wild's first top-10 NHL scorer.

"To be honest, I haven't really given it much thought right now, especially where we're at in a unique part of the season with a lot of games and just the way we're playing," Kaprizov said through an interpreter on Tuesday before the Wild returns to action on Wednesday vs. Boston at Xcel Energy Center. "I'm really focused on the team game and just not really on personal accolades."

Kaprizov might not need the rest of the regular season to rewrite the Wild record book.

He could make history before this franchise-long nine-game homestand concludes at the end of the month.

Not only is the second-year winger just 10 points shy of matching the 83 Marian Gaborik had in 2007-08, but Kaprizov is only seven assists away from tying the 50 Pierre-Marc Bouchard accomplished that same season.

As for goals, Kaprizov's 12 behind the 42 Gaborik (2007-08) and Eric Staal (2017-18) posted. Based on his production thus far, Kaprizov is on pace to total 43.

Already, his goals (30), assists (43) and points (73) are career highs and he's one of the most dominant performers in the NHL at 5-on-5; Kaprizov's 55 even-strength points rank second, and his 24 even-strength goals are in the same neighborhood as former league MVPs in Washington's Alex Ovechkin (25) and Edmonton's Connor McDavid (24).

"We want him to get to 100 points, 105 points, be the top scorer in the league," winger Marcus Foligno said. "That's what we want on our team. If he's doing that, we know that as a team we're having a great season."

Overall, entering play on Tuesday, Kaprizov was tied for sixth in NHL scoring. The highest anyone on the Wild has ever finished is tied for 12th (Gaborik in 2007-08).

"He's a unique hockey player, obviously, with his skill set," coach Dean Evason said. "But what I think is very unique is he is complete team, like he doesn't care about his individual stats."

Only four times since mid-December has Kaprizov not factored into the offense when he's played, including the 6-2 loss to Nashville last Sunday.

That wrapped his eight-game point streak, which was his second tear of that length this season; both are tied for the longest of his career.

But the 24-year-old feels pressure to lead the Wild out of a 3-7-1 slump that's complicated the team's playoff outlook.

"It's something I think about after games what I could have done better, what I could have done differently," Kaprizov said. "I take it upon myself to continue to be better, to be more emotional and fired up on the ice and to continue to spark our team to winning and scrutinizing what I'm doing.

"I'm not showing my best performance right now. But I'm doing everything I can, and I continue to work towards improvement."

What that improvement looks like to Kaprizov is helping more on the defensive side of the puck, which has become an eyesore for the entire team. Since the All-Star break, the Wild has given up the most goals in the NHL (72).

"It's up to every guy on the team to do some soul-searching to kind of find out what within their game they can alter, change, enhance to continue to get better every single game," he said.

Once insulated from the race to fill out the Western Conference playoff picture, the Wild has dropped into the cluster jostling for the third seed in the Central Division or a wild card spot — a logjam in the standings Kaprizov has noticed.

"That obviously wasn't the case earlier in the season when we were winning a lot," he said. "We were well ahead. But I think if anything, that can give us a boost that we need to continue to excel and continue to get better especially in this critical time for us."

What happens next will define the Wild and reveal how impressive Kaprizov's season ends up being.

Those outcomes may not be mutually exclusive.

"Right now, my sole focus is to continue to get better," Kaprizov said, "and help our team win every single night."