ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kirill Kaprizov said he was reminded a few days ago how close he is to breaking the Minnesota Wild’s all-time goals record.
The Russian superstar is now only three goals away after his two-goal performance in Monday’s 4-3 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Grand Casino Arena. Kaprizov’s second goal was the OT winner, nearly four minutes into the extra session.
Kaprizov has 217 goals (in 376 games), behind Marian Gaborik’s 219 (in 502 games). The two got to chat earlier this season when Gaborik visited the Wild as part of the team’s 25th anniversary season celebration.
“It was fun, because I remember when I was a kid, I watched, I saw how he played for the national team and other teams,” Kaprizov said.
Kaprizov has been on a strong run as of late, with seven goals in his last six games, including two-game winners. He’s got 32 on the season, tied for third in the NHL, behind only Connor McDavid (34) and Nathan MacKinnon (40). The only thing slowing him down is the Olympic break, which starts after Wednesday’s road game against the Nashville Predators.
“Kind of thankful he’s not in the tournament,” Brock Faber said, “because that’s obviously scary the way he’s playing.”
Coach John Hynes appreciated how Kaprizov has remained consistent this season with the way he’s played, even when it hasn’t shown up on the stat sheet.
“As he was starting to get rolling a little bit, there was a couple games prior to that where he … could’ve had several multipoint games, and the puck didn’t go in for him,” Hynes said. “And now, he continued to play the right way, he continued to compete. I like the fact that he’s shooting the puck now. He’s driving on offense. He’s scoring in different ways. … And I think when the puck’s not going in for you, he’s not overcomplicating it. I think he’s simplifying a little bit more. He’s using his shot and finding a way to put it in the back of the net.”
The Wild led 2-0 before the Canadiens rallied to score three straight goals, the first two coming in the last minute of the first and second periods. But Hynes liked the way the Wild handled the adversity and pushed back, with Faber scoring the tying goal seven minutes into the third.
“Finding ways to win — that’s what you got to do,” Faber said. “They’ve got a really good team over there. Obviously, the last one we were coming off a back-to-back, and they took it to us. So, you know, I thought it was a pretty even fight tonight, and thankfully we came out on top.”
The Wild are now 19-2-0 in their last 21 games against the Canadiens and have won the last 12 played at Grand Casino Arena. It’s their longest active home win streak against a single opponent and is tied for the longest active home win streak against a single opponent in the NHL.
More offense for Faber
Quinn Hughes has said he believes Faber can be a 20-goal scorer.
And Faber is certainly on his way, with Monday’s goal giving him 13 on the season. It was the seventh goal Faber has scored in 24 games playing with Hughes, the former Norris Trophy winner.
“It is hard not to when you play with a guy like that, right?” Faber said of reaching the 20-goal mark. “Also, I have quite a few goals that maybe don’t go in another year, that hit things on the way, and crazy bounces and stuff. But that’s just part of it. And, you know, scoring goals is fun. I love doing it. I love helping the team in that way. Like I said, playing with a guy like Quinn, it’s hard not to really grow offensively.”
Hughes’ three assists Monday helped him reach 400 career assists in his 484th game, becoming the third fastest defenseman in league history to get to that milestone (Bobby Orr was the fastest at 437 games). Faber said the way Hughes plays the game impacts how much he can get involved offensively.
The Quinn Hughes effect 🤯
Catch the @mnwild take on the @CanadiensMTL TONIGHT at 7:30p ET on @SportsOnPrimeCA! pic.twitter.com/nw5zEgwNau
— NHL (@NHL) February 2, 2026
“I’d say there’s two sides to it,” Faber said. “When you play with a guy that’s like (Jonas) Brodin or a guy that’s a lot more sound defensively. It’s, you know, I think for me, the way he skates and the way he opens lanes, I think it almost opens me up. All eyes are on him when he gets the puck. So when I get it, I feel like I have so much more time. And that’s just what superstars have. They have that, you know, when McDavid or (Leon) Draisaitl, all those guys get the puck, everyone’s focused on them. That’s what makes this team so good with him. He just makes us all better.”
Hynes sees how Hughes has influenced Faber to play with more tempo.
“For example, if it’s in O-zone and it goes D-to-D, but as the pass is coming to him, he already knows what he’s going to do with the puck next by the time he catches it,” Hynes said. “He catches it in stride, and then he is in motion. I think the speed with which he’s playing the game, mentally and with his skating and decision-making, has elevated.”
Teaching moment
As significant as Hughes’ impact on the team since the mid-December blockbuster trade has been, the star defenseman isn’t infallible.
He was on the ice for the first two goals against on Monday, both coming late in a period. The first came when Brendan Gallagher beat him cleanly off the rush in the first period. The second was when Hughes was on the back side and wasn’t able to thwart a slick cross-zone pass from Lane Hutson to Ivan Demidov, who buried his point-blank chance. On that second-period goal, Hughes was at the end of a 1-minute, 42-second shift. Kaprizov was finishing a 1-minute, 37-second shift.
Jour de la marmaille.
Certified ground-dawgs.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/fkYfJVhbMj
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 3, 2026
“I’m glad that we won the game, because I would say that those two goals in particular are great opportunities, I think to teach managing the game, your shift length, attention to detail, particularly at those moments in the game,” Hynes said. “I think we could have done a better job in those situations.”
Medical matters
The Wild got Zach Bogosian back after the veteran defenseman missed 13 games with a lower-body injury. This was the third separate injury to sideline Bogosian this season. It felt like he was day-to-day for a month.
“It definitely wasn’t day-to-day,” Bogosian said. “(I) mean, any time you get hurt as much as I have this year on unfortunate bounces, yeah, it’s frustrating. The guys supported me along the way and kept me positive. My family did the same thing, so it was a great support system for me. Just unfortunate, but just work hard to get back.”
Bogosian’s defense partner, Daemon Hunt, got hurt Monday when he was hit in the neck by a deflected Demidov shot and didn’t return. Hynes said he talked to Hunt and he should be fine. He doesn’t expect Hunt to miss time, with him sitting out more as a precaution.
Nico Sturm returned to the lineup after missing Saturday’s road game against the Edmonton Oilers with an illness. Jesper Wallstedt also wasn’t feeling well, so Cal Petersen was called up to be the backup for Filip Gustavsson. Wallstedt and Marcus Foligno have both been dealing with a bug going around the room, Hynes said, and whether they travel to Nashville for the team’s final game before the Olympic break is to be determined.