March 3, 2026; St. Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson (32) made a save while forward Vinny Hinostroza (18) tied up Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point (21) during the first period at the Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Image Kirill Kaprizov set the Wild’s all-time scoring record as Minnesota earned a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Tuesday night.
With his club comfortably ahead and the Lightning net empty, the 28-year-old Kaprizov slotted his 220th goal into an empty net at the 16:41 mark of the third quarter. He broke a tie with Marian Gaborik for the franchise mark.
Minnesota’s Brock Faber, Mats Zuccarello and Quinn Hughes each had a goal and an assist. Yakov Trenin added a marker as the Wild broke a two-game losing skid but moved to 7-2-0 in their last nine games.
Matt Boldy had three assists to extend his point streak to 10 games (eight goals, 13 assists).
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 24 shots.
Defenseman Jonas Brodin returned from a 14-game absence due to a lower-body injury and recorded 15 minutes, 24 seconds of ice time and a plus-1 rating.
Nikita Kucherov scored for Tampa Bay, which began its four-game road trip with its third straight loss (0-3-0). Andrei Vasilevskiy made 17 saves.
The Wild, wearing retro green North Stars sweaters with yellow and white trim, took a 1-0 lead at 3:46 of the first period when Team USA gold medal-winning teammates Faber and Boldy scored the first points.
Boldy earned a secondary assist when Faber sent a fluttering shot that Vasilevskiy appeared to have fooled and was unable to use his gloves.
Gustavsson denied Oliver Bjorkstrand a breakaway to maintain a one-goal lead at 7:18, and the period ended with Tampa Bay maintaining a 12-5 shot advantage.
Just three minutes into the second half, Gustafsson blocked Brandon Hagel’s shot, preventing a 2-on-1 situation. Minnesota made it 2-0 on a 4-on-3 power play with 4:59 to go when Zuccarello blistered his wrist cutting Vasilevskiy’s shoulder.
Kucherov responded at 15:07 of the second, but Minnesota regained the two-goal lead two minutes later. Vasilevskiy reached out and tried to ice the easily slipping puck, but misplayed it off his face-down glove and Trenin quickly put the puck in.
Following Team USA’s quarterfinal thriller against Sweden in overtime, Hughes made it 4-1 at 6:53 of the third, leading to a “USA, USA!” The crowd cheers.
–Field level media
