Wild stave off elimination with 4-0 victory at Chicago

Kirill Kaprizov became the first Wild player with three 40-goal seasons, and Jesper Wallstedt earned a shutout for his first NHL victory in net on Sunday as the Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0, at United Center.

Recalled from Iowa on Saturday, Wallstedt finished with 24 saves for the Wild, who also avoided being mathematically eliminated from postseason contention by earning two points.

Kaprizov scored on a one-timer from the right circle to give the Wild a 1-0 lead early in the second period, burying a cross-ice pass from Matt Boldy at 1:06, then beat Arvid Soderblom with a wrist shot midway through the third period to make it 4-0.

The young winger has scored four goals in back-to-back games and now has scored at least 41 goals in his three full NHL seasons after scoring 27 in his first, the 55-game COVID season in 2019-20.

He already was the only Wild player to score at least 30 goals in three consecutive seasons.

Marco Rossi and Freddy Gaudreau also scored goals for the Wild, who staved off elimination in their 77th game of the season. They’ll need to win their last five regular-season games, and need Nashville and Vegas to lose out.

The Predators were at New Jersey on Sunday night. The Knights’ next game is Monday at Vancouver. Both teams will have 94 points after their next regulation win, too many for the Wild to overcome.

Wallstedt, 21, met the team in Chicago on Saturday afternoon to make his second NHL start. The first didn’t go nearly as well, a 7-0 loss at Dallas on Jan. 10, when he was recalled because Filip Gustavsson was sidelined by a lower body injury.

Chicago was a much more favorable matchup for the rookie, and the Wild, than the Stars, who lead the Western Conference with 105 points.

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