Wild extend winning streak to five with 4-2 victory over Senators

With a red and green Santa hat perched on his head, Kirill Kaprizov tossed pucks into the stands after the Wild's pregame warm-up.

So did Ryan Reaves, who was wearing a fluffy white beard along with his red Santa hat after Reaves called Kaprizov a couple days earlier and asked if Kaprizov wanted to be an elf while Reaves dressed up as Santa Claus.

"I said, 'Yeah, why not? Let's go,'" Kaprizov said.

But once the puck dropped against the Senators, the Wild weren't as gracious.

In their season-best fifth consecutive victory, the Wild slammed the brakes on Ottawa's four-game tear with a 4-2 victory on Sunday in front of an announced 18,213 at Xcel Energy Center to sweep their four-game homestand.

Overall, the Wild have won seven in a row in St. Paul.

They are 8-2 in their past 10 and 11-3 over the past 14 and have been tagged for only five goals during their five-game surge.

"Our commitment level to keep the puck out of the net for the last little while's been great," coach Dean Evason said.

Their offense has been exemplary, too, led by Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Sam Steel.

Kaprizov had his second consecutive three-point effort to eclipse 200 career points in speedy fashion, while Zuccarello and Steel tallied two points apiece.

Since that line debuted Nov. 19, the three have combined for 52 points. The have totaled 24 during the team's win streak.

"They've got a nice chemistry," Evason said. "Obviously, Steeler has played extremely well, Kirill does that every night and Zuccy is pretty consistent as well."

Kaprizov scored his team-leading 19th goal 8 minutes, 19 seconds into the first period, a one-timer set up by Zuccarello and Steel that extended Kaprizov's point streak at home to 12 games (the second-longest run in Wild history; Marian Gaborik's 14-game tear in 2007-08 is the record).

What's more, Kaprizov became the fastest Wild player to reach 40 points, getting there in 31 games — one game less than last season.

Zuccarello, meanwhile, is on a 10-game point streak, tying his career high set last season. He's only the third Wild player ever with multiple 10-game point streaks, joining Kevin Fiala (2021-22) and Mikael Granlund (2016-17).

The three also delivered the Wild's second goal 1:34 into the second when Steel fed the rebound from a Kaprizov shot to Zuccarello for a tap-in that gave Zuccarello five goals in his last three games.

Steel's three-game point streak and three-game assist streak matched his career highs, and Kaprizov's helper was his 200th career point in his 167th game. He's the only player in team history to hit 200 points in fewer than 200 games.

Kaprizov posted point No. 201 later in the second after he threaded a pass between the legs of a Senators defenseman to captain Jared Spurgeon, who finished off the play with a slick backhand goal at 9:27.

"Even as a teammate, you never really know what Kirill's going to do," Spurgeon said. "So you always have to be ready."

Ottawa had their best push in the third, with goals from Mark Kastelic (4:58) and Claude Giroux (18:20), but the Wild remained calm and Frederick Gaudreau picked up his fourth goal in four games on an empty-netter with 26 seconds left.

Both power plays went 0-for-3, and Filip Gustavsson blocked 26 shots from his former team in his career-high sixth straight victory; Anton Forsberg had 19 stops at the other end. Cam Talbot, whom the Wild sent to Ottawa in exchange for Gustavsson in an offseason trade, was on the bench as the Senators' backup.

Next up for the Wild is a two-game road trip at Anaheim and San Jose, a chance to cruise into the holiday break on a wave of momentum — especially considering how Kaprizov is playing.

This was the winger's fifth three-point performance of the season, all of which have come at home.

Only Edmonton's Connor McDavid (six games), Colorado's Mikko Rantanen (five) and Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov (five) have had as many home games with three-plus points. Kaprizov is tied for sixth in NHL scoring with 42 points and ranks ninth in goals.

"Just try keep going more and more and more," Kaprizov said when asked about his confidence lately. "That's it."