Middleton, Foligno and Kaprizov all scored in a six-minute span in the first period to give the Wild a commanding early lead. Middleton fired a wrist shot past Dostal at 7:31, Foligno scored on a 2-on-1 rush at 9:11 and Kaprizov whipped in a wrist shot from the faceoff circle on a delayed penalty with 7:28 to go.

The Wild (10-2-2) scored the three first-period goals in the span of 5 minutes, 1 second, starting with Jake Middleton's goal 7:31 into the frame. Marcus Foligno scored 1 minute, 40 seconds later, and Kaprizov scored his first of the night at 12:32.