NEW YORK (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek scored on consecutive shots in the third period Tuesday night, lifting the Minnesota Wild to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders.
Kaprizov snapped a tie by scoring a power play goal at the 6:50 mark before Pat Maroon forced a turnover by Pierre Engvall deep in the Islanders’ zone and Eriksson Ek scored.
Maroon scored on the opening shift of the game and Vinni Lettieri tied the game in the second for the Wild, who also scored twice in the third period of a 5-4 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday night. Maroon and Eriksson Ek each added an assist Tuesday.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had 26 saves.
Noah Dobson scored for the second straight game for the Islanders. Oliver Wahlstrom also scored for New York, which had its point streak snapped at five games. Goalie Semyon Varlamov, starting at home for the first time this season, collected 27 saves.
Maroon scored just 19 seconds after the opening faceoff by sending an angled shot past Varlamov. The goal was the earliest in the NHL this season and the earliest for the Wild since Ryan Suter's score at the 19-second mark on April 24, 2021.
Dobson evened the score at the 11-minute mark, when he beat Fleury with a slap shot to end a sequence that began with fourth-liner Cal Clutterbuck out-dueling Jake Middleton and Dakota Mermis for the puck behind the Wild net.
Wahlstrom put the Islanders ahead 8:34 into the middle period, when he scored with six seconds left on New York’s third power play of the game. It was the first goal since last Dec. 9 for Wahlstrom, who suffered a torn ACL on Dec. 27 and didn’t return until Oct. 21.
Lettieri snapped his own lengthy drought by scoring from the high slot with 7:57 remaining in the second for his first goal since Jan. 26, 2022, when he was playing for the Anaheim Ducks. Lettieri’s grandfather, Lou Nanne, was broadcasting Tuesday’s game for Bally Sports North.
UP NEXT
Wild: Visit New York Rangers on Thursday night.
Islanders: Visit Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
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