Kaprizov Hits 500 NHL Points With Empty-Netter in Washington, Joins Koivu in Wild History

Kaprizov's 500 NHL points is a number that isn't about milestones for their own sake — it raises a very simple question: how much more can he do? Minnesota beat Washington 5-1 on the road, and in the sixtieth minute Kirill Kaprizov sent the puck into an empty net. A goal is a goal, nothing pretty about it, but it was the forward's 500th point in regular-season play: 245 goals and 255 assists.

Now, what that number is worth. According to sportmail.ru, citing NHL.com, Kaprizov is only the second player in Minnesota history to reach 500 points; the first was Mikko Koivu, in 2015. Among Russians in the NHL, he is the 25th with that mark. And here is the key part: it took him 413 games. Among active players, he shares fourth place for speed with Evgeni Malkin. Admit it, it's nice to see Malkin's name next to such a stat — and the comparison carries weight.

His season is running at the same pace: after sixteen games he has 25 points (15 goals and 10 assists). As a reminder, in October he scored fourteen goals, matching a feat of Ovechkin's in the 2000s — we wrote about that separately. The question hanging in the air now: will he stop at the sniper race, or go further, to a level where Koivu can no longer be caught? Minnesota's next home game on our schedule is against Nashville on Nov. 18, at 04:00 Moscow time.