Wild vs. Canucks: Quinn Hughes Scores His 500th Point in a Booed Return to Vancouver

Quinn Hughes heard it every time he touched the puck. The former Vancouver captain came back to Rogers Arena on Sunday night wearing the wrong colors, absorbed boos from start to finish, and then did what he spent six and a half seasons doing for the Canucks: he took over the game.

Hughes scored on a second-period power play for the 500th point of his NHL career and set up Kirill Kaprizov's league-leading 13th goal as the Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2. It was a homecoming with a twist ending only Vancouver fans could hate, and it pushed the Canucks' losing streak to 10 games.

"The passion with the fanbase is what makes it special to play here," Hughes said, per NHL.com. "So for me, it was cool to be back here, and exciting. And I'm glad we got the win."

Vancouver Had the First Period, Minnesota Had the Scoreboard

For about 18 minutes, this looked like the Canucks' night. Vancouver came out flying, outshot Minnesota 10-5 in the opening period and spent long stretches in the Wild zone. Even Hughes admitted it. "I thought they were better than us in the first," he said.

There was also a moment of genuine warmth. During a first-period video tribute, the crowd mixed in cheers for the guy it had been booing. Minnesota acquired him on Dec. 12, 2025, sending Liam Ohgren, Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium and a 2026 first-round pick the other way.

Then the Wild did something cruel. With 1:27 left in the first and Minnesota on the power play, Kaprizov slid a feed across the crease and Maxim Shabanov tucked it inside the post before Leevi Merilainen could get over. One shot, one lead, one completely different intermission mood.

"We had obviously a really good start to the game," Canucks coach Manny Malhotra said. "Everything but the score was a positive for us coming out of the first and then weren't able to maintain that in the second."

The Ice Tilted, and It Never Tilted Back

That power-play goal flipped the entire game. Over the final two periods, Minnesota outshot Vancouver 29-7, which is less a hockey game than an extended game of keep-away.

Bobby Brink made it 2-0 at 5:54 of the second. Minnesota forced a turnover inside the Vancouver blue line, Michael McCarron sent Brink in alone, and Brink pulled Merilainen out of position with a fake before tucking a backhand around him. It was Brink's first goal of the season, and it had style points.

Then came the moment the whole arena had braced for. At 12:55, on another Minnesota power play, Hughes worked the puck from behind the net to Joel Eriksson Ek in front, kept moving, and was waiting on the back side when the rebound needed a home. Point No. 500 arrived in his 520th game. NHL.com noted that makes him the seventh-fastest defenseman ever to reach the mark and the second-fastest American defenseman, behind only Brian Leetch, who did it in 496 games.

Brock Boeser described the second-period collapse in painfully honest terms. "You can kind of see the ice tilt in their favor," he said. "We need to find a way to squash it and get the momentum back."

Hughes was not done. Early in the third, he sprung Kaprizov for a breakaway, and the league's top goal scorer made no mistake, deking his way to a 4-0 lead at 3:38. Max Sasson broke in alone and beat Calvin Pickard through the pads at 6:24, and Boeser one-timed an Elias Pettersson feed from the high slot at 16:53. It was too late to matter.

Hughes, Kaprizov and a Goalie Collecting Jerseys

Hughes finished with a goal, an assist and 26:10 of ice time, and he now has 501 career points with 69 goals and 432 assists. Through 13 games this season, he has three goals and 13 assists. He and Kaprizov have each recorded points in 11 of Minnesota's 13 games.

Kaprizov also had a goal and an assist, and his 13 goals lead the NHL. Afterward he sounded like a man trying very hard not to jinx anything. "I don't want to say it's hot start," he said.

Shabanov added a goal and an assist, and Pickard made 15 saves on 17 shots for his first win with the Wild. NHL.com noted Pickard now has wins with five different NHL teams, trailing Cam Talbot, James Reimer and David Rittich among active goalies. That is a well-traveled résumé.

Merilainen made 30 saves on 34 shots and deserved better than what he got in front of him.

Stats That Matter

• 29-7: Minnesota's shot advantage over the second and third periods.
• 2 for 5: the Wild's power play, which still managed to waste a 57-second 5-on-3 in the third.
• 32-20: Minnesota's edge in hits, a sign the Wild matched the physical start Vancouver came out with.
• 21: Vancouver giveaways, the kind of number that keeps a coach up at night.
• 10: straight losses for the Canucks.

Two Teams Headed in Opposite Directions

Minnesota improved to 8-3-2 with 18 points, completing a back-to-back sweep after a 5-1 win in Seattle on Saturday. The Wild are 6-2-1 in their past nine. Coach John Hynes liked how his team handled the early storm. "I just liked our push back," he said. Minnesota visits Utah on Tuesday.

Vancouver fell to 2-10-1 with five points, and the 10-game skid includes nine regulation losses and one overtime loss. The Canucks are 1-5-0 at home. Malhotra did not hide from it. "We're searching for answers," he said. "It's concerning." The road does not get easier, with a trip to Anaheim up next on Tuesday.

The Closing Take

Every franchise eventually hosts the reunion episode, the one where the former star walks back on set and the audience cannot decide whether to cheer or boo. Vancouver did both on Sunday.

Hughes got the milestone, the win and the last word. The Canucks got another loss and a trip to Anaheim to figure out how to play three periods instead of one.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes from NHL.com's game recap; additional details as reported by the Associated Press and NHL.com.