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The Minnesota Wild have made resilience a valuable habit, halfway through a banged-up regular season

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The Minnesota Wild have made resilience a valuable habit, halfway through a banged-up regular season


ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild wouldn’t need much time to identify a theme for their first half of the regular season — unfazed ought to do it.

In a fitting finish to their 41st game, the Wild reached the midpoint of the schedule in taxing fashion by fending off the St. Louis Blues 6-4 for their fourth straight victory on Tuesday night.

“Even if we’re up or even or down, I think we just keep playing,” defenseman Jonas Brodin said. “To do that, I think that’s really good. We’ve just got to keep doing it the rest of the season.”

Minnesota (26-11-4) kept pace with Central Division leader Winnipeg, staying two points behind the Jets with one game in hand. The Wild have the fourth-best record in the NHL, after missing the playoffs last season with largely the same roster. One key difference in 2023-24 was a lack of resiliency when injuries and slumps came their way.

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“The vibes are high. Everyone’s feeling good,” defenseman Jake Middleton said.

With Brodin leading the way with a career-high 33:02 of ice time, the second-most by any player in the NHL this season, the Wild managed to outlast a late surge by the Blues with contributions from everywhere in the lineup.

Defenseman Brock Faber, the runner-up for the Calder Trophy last year for the league’s top rookie, departed in the first period with an upper-body injury. That meant more minutes for Zach Bogosian on the first blue-line pair with Brodin, with captain Jared Spurgeon sidelined by a lower-body injury.

Minnesota Wild defenseman Jake Middleton is congratulated for his goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. Credit: AP/Matt Krohn

Flanked by the second forward line of Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman down the stretch with a one-goal lead, Brodin and Bogosian were a two-man wrecking crew in front of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury during a supersized shift to end the game. Johansson’s empty-netter with 36 seconds left gave the Wild a 6-4 lead and a much-needed deep breath.

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“That six-man unit to end the game was special to watch,” said Middleton, who returned from a 10-game absence due to an upper-body injury with a goal and an assist.

The defensemen combined for three goals and two assists. Brodin, who led the team with four blocked shots, was justifiably proud of the effort.

“It’s fun to be playing those situations, too, like when it’s on the line. I love to play those minutes. That’s what you dream of when you’re a kid, play those tight games and those shifts. I love it,” Brodin said. “You forget you’re tired when you’re on the ice.”

St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn, right, and Minnesota Wild...

St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn, right, and Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin reach for the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. Credit: AP/Matt Krohn

So what’s the recovery plan?

“I don’t know. Maybe order a pizza or something,” Brodin said.

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Wild coach John Hynes had no update on Faber’s condition after the game, but Brodin and his blue-line boys will surely be ready for more role upgrades after the first half they’ve experienced. Brodin missed 10 games earlier this season himself.

Up front, star left wing and leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov is still out with a lower-body injury that has cost him six games and counting. Earlier this season, Eriksson Ek and another top-six forward, Mats Zuccarrello, missed 29 games between them.

“You can go one of two ways when you hit adversity, and we’re choosing to rise to the occasion,” Bogosian said. “That’s what we need to do.”



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Minnesota

Hughes scores in debut for Wild, who defeat Bruins for 4th straight win | NHL.com

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Hughes scores in debut for Wild, who defeat Bruins for 4th straight win | NHL.com


The 26-year-old defenseman finished with three shots in 26:55 of ice time in his first game since being traded to Minnesota by the Vancouver Canucks on Friday for defenseman Zeev Buium, forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

“It’s been a whirlwind for sure,” Hughes said. “I’m just looking forward to kind of getting my feet on the ground and get with the team here and get in a day-to-day lifestyle here. But definitely the last 48 hours have been a lot, but I was excited to go play the game.”

Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and an assist, Hartman had a goal and two assists, and Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist for the Wild (19-9-5), who extended their winning streak to four games and home point streak to 12 games (10-0-2). Filip Gustavsson made 29 saves.

“The crowd was electric I think just from the … I would say warmups to the introduction and then throughout the game,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “So, it was great to see the building like that and the guys perform the way that they did. So, it was a great combo.”

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Alex Steeves and Andrew Peeke scored, and Swayman made 25 saves for the Bruins (19-14-0), who had won four straight.

“They’re a very good hockey team,” Boston coach Marco Sturm said. “They’re built pretty big, they play the right way, they play pretty hard, and they go to the net really hard, too. So, that’s something I mentioned, even between periods. That’s something we have to learn. And even if teams like that, we have to learn from that, and that shows we’re not there yet, and that’s a good thing, I think.

“Do we like the end results? No, but we had our chances in the first, even in the second period, and those are the chances that you have to use, otherwise it’s going to get hard against a team like that.”

Jared Spurgeon put Minnesota ahead 1-0 at 10:11 of the first period with a wrist shot through traffic as Swayman was screened by Marcus Johansson on a power play.

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Perennial candidate Kendall Qualls wins Minnesota GOP gubernatorial straw poll

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Perennial candidate Kendall Qualls wins Minnesota GOP gubernatorial straw poll


Kendall Qualls, Army veteran, former health care executive and anti-anti-racist activist, won the Minnesota Republican gubernatorial straw poll on Saturday, beating House Speaker Lisa Demuth, MyPillow guy Mike Lindell and a long list of other names. The poll of the party’s State Central Committee offers the first look at how the candidates in the 2026 […]



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Minnesota weather: How cold it got on Saturday

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Minnesota weather: How cold it got on Saturday


Temperatures dropped into the negative Saturday, with the coldest temperatures in the morning. 

How cold it got in Minnesota Saturday

By the numbers:

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Here is how cold the temperatures got in Minnesota: 

  • Hinckley: -20 degrees
  • Bemidji: -20 degrees
  • Ely: -18 degrees
  • Brainerd: -18 degrees
  • Detroit Lakes: -18 degrees
  • Hibbing: -17 degrees
  • International Falls: -17 degrees
  • Duluth: -16 degrees
  • Alexandria: -12 degrees
  • St. Cloud: -12 degrees
  • Cambridge: -11 degrees
  • Grand Marais: -10 degrees
  • Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport: -6 degrees
  • Red Wing: -6 degrees
  • Morris: -6 degrees
  • Hutchinson: -5 degrees
  • Rochester: -5 degrees
  • Mankato: -3 degrees
  • Windom: 0 degrees
  • Marshall: 0 degrees

Here are the lowest wind chills across Minnesota from Saturday: 

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  • Bemidji: -37 degrees
  • Ely: -35 degrees
  • Duluth: -34 degrees
  • Brainerd: -32 degrees
  • Detroit Lakes: -32 degrees
  • Hibbing: -31 degrees
  • Alexandria: -29 degrees
  • Hinckley: -27 degrees
  • Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport: -24 degrees
  • St. Cloud: -24 degrees
  • Willmar: -22 degrees
  • Cambridge-21 degrees
  • Grand Marais: -21 degrees
  • Hutchinson: -21 deegres
  • Morris: -20 degrees
  • Faribault: -18 degrees
  • Mankato: -18 degrees
  • Marshall: -17 degrees
  • Red Wing: -16 degrees
  • Owatonna: -16 degrees
  • Windom-12 degrees

Cold continues Sunday 

What’s next:

The Twin Cities are under a cold weather advisory that is expected to last through Sunday morning, so residents should prepare for frigid conditions if they have plans to be outdoors.

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Sunday will be slightly less frigid with temperatures climbing above zero. However, it will still feel like 10 below zero in the afternoon.

Milder and warmer temperatures are expected to return for the work week.

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