The confrontation between St. Louis and Minnesota, even before the start of the playoffs, was predicted by seven games and a hard fight in every game. However, the series began with a major victory for the Blues, and then it seemed that the couple would not live up to forecasts. Now the teams are on a par, having two wins each.

At the same time, none of the matches had an intriguing ending. In each meeting, one of the teams dominates and wins a big victory. But there is an island of stability in this pair – the game of Kirill Kaprizov. Russian three matches in a row gaining points.

However, there are fans who are unhappy with Kaprizov – they call the Russian a scammer and an overrated hockey player. What else does Kirill need to do to avoid criticism?

Kaprizov is unstoppable in the playoffs

Kaprizovu starting game of the Stanley Cup was given hard. The Blues closely guarded the top scorer of Minnesota in the regular season, preventing him from distinguishing himself. But already in the second meeting, Kirill scored a hat-trick, becoming the first “savage” who managed to score three goals in one playoff match. From that moment on, the Blues cannot stop Kaprizov. The Russian repeated the club record for goals scored in one round of knockout games and scored 6 (5+1) points in four games.

Surprisingly, Kaprizov is still criticized by the fans. In their opinion, the Russian does not live up to expectations and neglects the game in defense, which causes the defeat of Minnesota.

They really expect a lot from Kirill, because he is the owner of the Hart Trophy and the club’s top scorer in the regular season. Therefore, when Kaprizov is on the ice, the fans are waiting for pucks only against the bluesmen. But the Russian finished the fourth match with a utility indicator of “0”, although he abandoned it again.

Blaming Kaprizov is stupid, because Minnesota plays terribly on defense. And Kirill himself spends every shift with full dedication. The fourth meeting of the series was no exception – Kaprizov had a good match, but the “savages” lost again.

Photo: © REUTERS/Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports

Kaprizov must not leave the field with a “0” in the plus or minus column

For the fourth game, the Blues came out as a catch-up – Minnesota led in the series 2-1. “St. Louis”, like a cornered animal, began the meeting actively. And already in the fifth minute, the Blues hit the opponent’s goal – Jordan Kairu scored from the pass of Pavel Buchnevich. At the same time, it seemed that this was a replay of a goal from any previous match in the series. “Minnesota” makes mistakes in attack, misses the counterattack, does not have time on the rebound after the first throw of the “bluesmen” … Marc-Andre Fleury pulls the puck out of the goal.

After a successful start, the Blues did not stop and continued to throw work to the goalkeeper of the “savages”. But time after time Fleury got it right, and often did it beautifully. The Minnesota keeper has 17 out of 18 saved shots, he did everything to keep the team in the game.

And in the middle of the period, Kaprizov answered his keeper with gratitude for a huge number of saves – he powerfully charged under the crossbar in touch and equalized the score. Now Kaprizov has five goals in the playoffs, which is a repeat of the club’s achievement in goals in one round of the Stanley Cup. And Minnesota’s record for the playoffs is nine goals. With such performance, Kirill can beat him already in the series with St. Louis.

Kaprizov’s goal did not give an impulse to Minnesota. The Savages still went with the flow and allowed the Bluesmen to fire on Fleury. And in the second 20-minute “St. Louis” twice hit the gates of the “savages” keeper.

First, the Blues brought forward David Perron. And then Kairu, after another mistake by the Minnesota defenders, forced all the spectators to give him a standing ovation – the forward with one trick removed two “savage” players at once and forced them to watch helplessly as he masterfully dealt with Fleury.

At the beginning of the final 20 minutes, Minnesota still managed to win back one goal. But the “savages” failed to develop success – at the end of the period, the “bluesmen” scored twice. First, all the same Perron threw into an empty net, having issued a double. A minute later, Ryan O’Reilly converted the majority, finally removing all questions about the winner in this match.

After the game, Minnesota fans attacked their leader Kaprizov, because it was the Russian who “brought” the first goal. Even a beautiful puck and leadership among the “savages” in shots did not save Cyril from criticism.

– Description of Kirill Kaprizov: overrated scammer, 6 years of experience in the KHL, invisible on the court, does not know how to play defense at all

– In such matches, Kaprizov’s inability to play defense is especially noticeable.

– One goal of Kaprizov is not enough to win

Photo: © REUTERS/Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports

Criticism towards Kaprizov looks comical, because after his abandoned puck, the fans called him the best Russian hockey player in the current Stanley Cup draw. But two periods passed, and in the eyes of some fans, he became an overrated player.

As a result, St. Louis equalized the score in the series and confidently defeated Minnesota – 5: 2. The main star of the “savages” Kaprizov scored a beautiful puck and extended the scoring streak to three matches. And criticism towards the Russian is the result of a crazy season and the start of the playoffs by Kirill. Kaprizov shows a strong game, so the fans expect something unimaginable from him. If the Russian continues to score in the same vein and takes the Wild to the next round, then even the most desperate haters will have no arguments left.