Alternate angle of Kirill Kaprizov's insane goal in Wild's Game 1 win over Stars makes it even better

One of the most, if not the most, anticipated series of the entire NHL Playoffs got underway on Saturday with the Minnesota Wild pouring six goals on Dallas with what seemed to be relative ease. There were enough fireworks to go around, but the brightest light belongs to Kirill Kaprizov.

It was as stunning a win as it was dominating, as the Wild scored pretty quickly out of the gate in the first period and never took their foot off the gas. Everything went well, from the brilliant goaltending of Jesper Wallstedt to Minnesota's devestating power play unit, to the white-hot offense melting through Dallas' defense.

While just about everyone stepped up, we were all quietly reminded that no matter the firepower the Wild are bringing to this series, there's nobody better than Kaprizov. He scored a goal in the second period that not only helped open the floodgates on a 6-1 win for the Wild but might go down as one of the cleanest and most efficient goals we'll see.

It was such a snipe -- such a brilliantly executed shot -- that if you blinked you might have missed it going in.

Kirill Kaprizov's effortlessly brilliant goal in Game 1 is a reminder of how he's a silent assassin for the Wild

Like, come on. The angle of this thing is just insane and the alternate angle makes it even more impressive. It's such a bullseye snipe that Jake Oettinger never had a chance of stopping it because he probably never even saw where it was coming from.

It honestly looks like a magic trick, as though Kaprizov made the puck disappear right in front of Oettinger's eyes before making it re-appear behind him. It's also such a perfectly placed shot that it rimmed out of the net and back onto the ice in such a way that nobody on Dallas -- or in the stands -- knew what happened until the Wild players were celebrating.

This wasn't the last goal of the game -- Minnesota scored four more times -- and it won't be the last of the series. It's a tone-setter, though, as Kaprizov is establishing himself in the dangerous role of silent assassin.

Minnesota brings perhaps its most talented roster ever into these playoffs, with most of the attention on Quinn Hughes. It's justifiably drawn attention, too, and it's helped shine a light on his defensive linemate, Brock Faber, as well as the brilliance of Matt Boldy.

All of this has sort of pushed Kaprizov into the long grass, which is exactly where the Wild want him. Like a raptor he's ready to attack an unsuspecting defense that already has enough to worry about with Minnesota's offense and can easily forget just how effortlessly devestating a game-wrecker Kaprizov is capable of being when he's at full-strength.

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