ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kirill Kaprizov was taping his stick near the bench before the game when he heard something prescient. On the center-ice scoreboard was a video of Marian Gaborik congratulating Kaprizov on breaking his franchise record for goals.
At first, Kaprizov didn’t know what it was all about. He asked teammate and buddy Mats Zuccarello, “Who is it for?”
“For you,” Zuccarello replied.
It took Kaprizov nine shot attempts — including hitting three posts — but the Wild superstar did clinch the franchise record of 220 career goals, scoring an empty-netter with just over three minutes to go in a 5-1 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning. Kaprizov completed the feat in just 381 games (it took Gaborik 502 to get the same number).
“It’s good, you know,” Kaprizov said. “But you always want more. I don’t think about this too much. It feels good because everyone was saying, ‘Congrats.’ But now it’s done and you keep going.”
The Wild looked like a true contender Tuesday. Coming off two losses in a row and performances they weren’t happy with, the Wild extended their now 62-game run of not losing more than two straight in regulation. Minnesota improved to 16-3 all-time against the Lightning at home and is now 10-3-1 in its past 14 overall against Tampa Bay.
“They’re a really good team obviously, and they compete, and got a lot of skill, so they’re a great team,” said Quinn Hughes. “You look at them, they just lost their third in a row. The league’s hard. It’s hard to win. I think, what’d they go 19-1-1 or something? Like, you’re gonna go through spells like that. And for us, it was nice to just kind of stop it there.”
Mats Zuccarello scored a goal and had an assist, Brock Faber scored his 14th goal and Yakov Trenin scored a huge goal just over two minutes after the Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov cut a two-goal deficit in half. All of Trenin’s linemates were heading to the bench when he scored after Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made a puck-handling gaffe.
“I celebrate, turn around — where is everybody?” Trenin joked. “Did something go wrong? Thank God it counted.”
Hughes, 24 hours after landing in Minnesota after appearing on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” scored a highlight-reel goal and had an assist to reach the 60-point mark for the fifth consecutive season. He became the third American defenseman in NHL history to reach the 60-point mark in five or more consecutive seasons, following Minnesotans Phil Housley and Reed Larson.
But this was Kaprizov’s night. And the team played Gaborik’s video message after Kaprizov was named the game’s No. 1 star to a standing ovation.
A special message from Marian Gaborik to the new franchise leader in goals, KK97 pic.twitter.com/0YocgRVtfj
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 4, 2026
“Finally finally, somebody broke my record,” Gaborik said. “And I had no doubt it was gonna be you Kirill. I want to congratulate you and wish you many more goals, many more points. But, most importantly, many more wins. You know your fans love you. But you know your teammates and trainers also love you. Go out there and try to do what I couldn’t do for ‘The State of Hockey’ — that is to win a Stanley Cup. Minnesota are great people, and they deserve a Stanley Cup.
“So, go out and go get it.”
What has struck coach John Hynes is Kaprizov’s intensity and hunger since the team came out of the Olympic break. While Kaprizov has 35 goals on the season, there’s more in there ahead of a Wild playoff run. As Kaprizov was about to do his media scrum postgame, he smiled and said he had to go get a t-shirt.
“I’m not Middsy,” Kaprizov said of the usually shirtless Jake Middleton.
“Not everyone is,” Middleton quipped.
Wild’s all-time goals list
PlayerGamesGoalsGoals Per Game
Kirill Kaprizov
381
220
0.577
Marian Gaborik
502
219
0.436
Mikko Koivu
1,028
205
0.199
Zach Parise
558
199
0.356
Joel Eriksson Ek
600
153
0.255
Matt Boldy
343
137
0.399
Kaprizov’s feat — although he said he doesn’t understand what the big deal is because 220 goals “isn’t a lot of goals” — didn’t surprise his teammates.
“Took him long enough, right?” Middleton joked. “What was it? 100 and some games before (Gaborik)? … That’s pretty impressive. He deserves it, though. He’s the best, that guy.”
“Just to watch him the last 30 games, it’s pretty crazy,” Hughes said. “So skilled, so competitive, elite shot. Great person. Just really enjoy getting to know him but also play with him. I mean, he’s just such a great player. And he could’ve had a couple today, too, and he was mad about it. I mean, for me, like, I’m used to probably just overhandling it, maybe, or doing a lot of leg work. To play with a guy like that, I can give him the puck. He gives me the puck. It’s just been really enjoyable, and he creates stuff out of nothing, so I just try to give him the puck.”
Boldy continues heater
Matt Boldy assisted on three goals to extend his assist streak to seven games (11 assists) and point streak to 10 (eight goals, 21 points).
When he assisted on the first two goals Tuesday, he had factored in on seven consecutive Wild goals. He recorded his 20th multi-point game on the season, marking his second campaign with as many. Boldy, Kaprizov and Gaborik are the only Wild players in history with multiple seasons of 20 multi-point games.
Boldy now has 71 points in 58 games (tied for ninth in the NHL) — two points from tying his career high set in 82 games last year.
“Just so elite,” Hughes said of Boldy. “Great shot, competitive, hungry. Really undercover penalty killer as well. And just a fantastic guy. I mean, you never hear him complain. Was amazing for us at the Olympics.”
Fabbri’s fresh start
Robby Fabbri said Monday was a “crazy” day, having been claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Blues.
But the 30-year-old veteran winger was pumped for a fresh start with the Wild and join a playoff race.
“The way I play, it fits in well here,” Fabbri said before having two shots and two hits in 9:16 of ice time. “Just to compete hard, kind of bring some experience as well.”
Fabbri immediately slotted in on the fourth line with Nico Sturm and Vinnie Hinostroza. He had just one goal in 15 games for the Blues this season, but scored 18 for the Detroit Red Wings as recently as 2023-24 and 17 in 2021-22. The four-time 15-goal scorer said he really liked his game this season and is open to playing any role. Fabbri won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019 and likes the potential of this Minnesota group.
“This is the most fun time of the year coming down the stretch,” he said. “And I’m glad to be part of it.”
The Wild were hoping to upgrade their fourth line, like with the Michael McCarron trade on Tuesday. And Fabbri was a low-risk, cheap addition.
“He’s a competitive guy. He’s always had speed,” Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said. “He’s a high-character kid. When I spoke to (Blues general manager) Doug Armstrong about him, he raved about his character and what type of person he is. I think he just needs a real good opportunity to play, and he’s been through a lot in his career, and he keeps fighting through, and he’s established himself as a solid NHL player. Sometimes it’s a change of scenery that can rejuvenate you or get you going again. I think a lot of times guys just need a different opportunity.”
Foligno update, Brodin returns, Johansson hurt
The Wild got some relatively good news on Marcus Foligno, who is on injured reserve but is considered week-to-week with his lower-body injury, Hynes said Tuesday.
Foligno got injured on the last road trip in Utah and missed his second straight game. He was scheduled to see another doctor on Tuesday, so the Wild won’t know the exact timeline until the next day or so, but Hynes was optimistic the injury isn’t long-term.
“Not season-ending,” Hynes said. “It might be a little bit.”
Jonas Brodin returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing 13 games (and the Olympics) following January surgery on his lower-body injury. Brodin, who was back with usual partner Jared Spurgeon, is a top shutdown defenseman for Minnesota, so he provided a big boost as the team entered a stretch against the Lightning, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche.
“Obviously, his ability to move the puck and defend, the situations that we rely on him quite a bit, it’s nice to have him back,” Hynes said.
The Wild did lose left wing Marcus Johansson in the third period when Darren Raddysh checked him with a shoulder to the head area for an interference minor. Johansson, who has a history of concussions, never saw it coming. He stayed on the ice for a while before being assisted to the bench and down the tunnel for good.
“You don’t like to see that hit happen,” Hynes said. “It was a minor penalty. It wasn’t an elbow or anything like that. It’s just unfortunate because JoJo wasn’t looking, so he caught him with a blind shot. Hopefully he’s OK. I think he looks pretty good right now. You always have to wait usually 24 hours to see. The fact that he was in the room after the game and we talked to him, hopefully he continues to progress and he doesn’t miss any time.”
The Wild have Wednesday off and will practice Thursday before flying to Vegas to play the Golden Knights on Friday, seven hours after the trade deadline.
