Wild vs. Bruins: Kirill Kaprizov Scores Twice and Quinn Hughes Shines as Minnesota Wins Its Home Opener

The Minnesota Wild had just burned through 1:52 of five-on-three time without scoring, and Connor Clifton's tripping minor was down to its very last second. Then Quinn Hughes let a wrist shot go, Ryan Hartman parked himself in front, and the puck went through the screen and into the net. Timing is everything.

Hughes' power-play goal at 12:28 of the second period put Minnesota ahead for good, Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, and the Wild beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 in their home opener on Saturday night at Grand Casino Arena. Jesper Wallstedt made 26 saves as Minnesota scored four straight goals after falling behind early.

Boston Lands the First Punch

The Bruins came in on the back end of a back-to-back after a 4-3 overtime win at Winnipeg on Friday, and they handed the net to Michael DiPietro for his third career NHL start and his first since Jan. 23, 2022, with Vancouver. DiPietro arrived with a serious resume: the AP noted he was the 2025-26 American Hockey League MVP with Providence after leading the league with 34 wins, a 1.91 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.

Boston gave him a lead almost immediately. Mark Kastelic laid a touch pass into the left circle, and Tanner Jeannot finished it from down low 1:53 into the game, with Clifton picking up the second assist. Minnesota spent the rest of the first period looking like a team still finding its legs.

"We got scored on early. We didn't really have a ton going on in the first period, but we stayed with it," Wild coach John Hynes said, per NHL.com.

The Turning Point: Minnesota's Power Play Takes Over

The second period was where the Wild flipped the switch, and their special teams did most of the flipping. Casey Mittelstadt went off for interference at 5:14, and less than a minute later Kaprizov was hammering a one-timer from in front off a short feed from Maxim Shabanov to tie it 1-1. It was Shabanov's first point with Minnesota, and Kaprizov sounded like a proud big brother afterward.

"He hit post again today, but I think next game he should score," Kaprizov said of Shabanov, who NHL.com noted signed a one-year, $1.6 million contract on July 2 after playing 44 games as a rookie with the New York Islanders.

Then Nikita Zadorov went off for slashing at 10:21, Clifton followed for tripping eight seconds later, and the Wild had a two-man advantage. They did not score on it. They did score on the leftovers, with Hughes beating DiPietro through Hartman's screen with one second remaining on Clifton's minor.

"Want more out of the 5-on-3, but I think (we) had some decent looks there," Hughes said, which is the kind of thing only an elite defenseman says after scoring the go-ahead goal.

Jared Spurgeon added the cushion at 3:24 of the third, ripping a wrist shot from the top of the right circle on the rush that changed direction off Zadorov's skate on its way in. Boston pushed back and outshot Minnesota 13-9 in the period, but Wallstedt held firm, and Kaprizov iced it with an unassisted empty-netter with 1:01 remaining.

Stars of the Night

Kaprizov scored twice in 18:49, giving him three goals on the season. The AP noted it was his 11th goal in eight career games against the Bruins, and NHL.com said he extended his goal streak against Boston to five games dating to the 2023-24 season. NHL.com also crunched the bigger number: Kaprizov has 478 points in 399 NHL games, and the only active players with at least that many before their 400th game are Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.

Hughes had a goal and an assist in 22:23. His assist on Spurgeon's goal was his 50th in his 50th game with Minnesota, making him the fastest player in franchise history to reach that mark, per NHL.com.

Wallstedt stopped 26 of 27 shots for a .963 save percentage. "I feel like we just had good pressure constantly on them," he said.

For Boston, DiPietro made 26 saves on 29 shots and was far better than the score suggests. "He was great," coach Marco Sturm said. "I wish we could have given him at least a point, but he was outstanding." DiPietro was not interested in a participation trophy. "I own that," he said. "Never like giving up the first loss for the team of the season."

Stats That Matter

• 2-for-3: Minnesota's power play, which produced both second-period goals.
• 0-for-3: Boston's power play, against a Wild penalty kill that is 7-for-7 through two games.
• 50 in 50: Hughes' assists through his first 50 games with Minnesota.
• 11: Kaprizov's career goals against Boston, in eight games, per the AP.
• 18-4-4: Minnesota's record in home openers, per the AP.

What It Means

Minnesota is 2-0-0 after opening with a 3-1 win at Nashville on Thursday. The AP noted eight different Wild players had points on Saturday after nine did so in the opener, and the club's .769 points percentage in home openers trails only Vegas (.850) across the NHL. The Wild begin a three-game road trip at Buffalo on Tuesday.

Boston drops to 2-1-0 after allowing just three goals in winning its first two games, per the AP. The Bruins are also still without defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who served the third game of a six-game suspension, according to NHL.com. They host Ottawa on Monday night.

Closing Take

Kaprizov against the Bruins has become one of those running gags that only one side of the room still finds funny. Add a Hughes who keeps rewriting the franchise assist pace, a goalie who looked unbothered by a hot Boston third period and a power play that cashed when it mattered, and the Wild look like a team that knows exactly who it is. Boston can take some comfort in DiPietro. Minnesota can take two points and a crowd that left happy.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.