Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov was struck in the mouth by an errant puck and missed much of the second period of Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings before returning for the third.

And when the Wild were defending an extra attacker with the Lightning’s net empty, Hynes was comfortable putting Kaprizov on the ice. Some stars in the league who can’t be relied upon don’t get that treatment, yet Kaprizov has now scored three empty net goals out of his seven.

Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov received high praise from coach John Hynes after they defeated the Lightning on Friday.