ST. PAUL. Minn. (AP) — Matt Boldy scored his 39th and 40th goals, Kirill Kaprizov added his 40th and the Minnesota Wild wrapped up a playoff spot with a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Third in the Western Conference and the NHL's stacked Central Division, Minnesota secured the postseason spot in 75 games after getting in last season in the 82nd and final game before falling to Vegas in the first round.
Ryan Hartmman scored twice in the third to reach 20 goals, and Filip Gustavsson made 29 saves to help the Wild rebound from a 6-3 loss at Boston on Saturday.
Former Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes had his 67th assist. He joined the Wild in a blockbuster trade in December that sent Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and a first-round pick in 2026 to Vancouver.
Tom Willander and Jake DeBrusk scored for NHL-worst Vancouver, and Nikita Tolopilo stopped 32 shots. The Canucks were coming off an 8-6 victory at NHL-leading Colorado on Wednesday night.
Boldy tied it at 2 on a wrist shot at 23 seconds of the second period, and Kaprizov followed on a snap shot at 06:08 of the period. Hartmman scored on a tip at 6:03 of the third and had an empty-netter.
The Wild are six points behind Dallas and 12 back of Colorado.
Canucks: Host Utah on Saturday.
Wild: At Ottawa on Saturday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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LittleFoot said:
Just two more weeks to flatten the war (curve).
Thomas Morgan said:
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