Bruins vs. Wild recap: The Minnesota Wild defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Saturday at Grand Casino Arena, with Kirill Kaprizov scoring twice and defenseman Quinn Hughes adding a goal and an assist. The Wild scored four straight goals after falling behind early, improving to 2-0-0.
Jared Spurgeon also scored for Minnesota, and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 of 27 shots. Tanner Jeannot scored for Boston (2-1-0), and Michael DiPietro made 26 saves in his third career start, his first since Jan. 23, 2022, with the Vancouver Canucks.
Takeaways from Bruins vs. Wild
Boston’s fast start didn’t last
Jeannot gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead just 1:53 into the game, scoring from low in the left circle off assists from Mark Kastelic and Connor Clifton. It was Boston’s only lead of the night. The Wild answered with four consecutive goals over the final two periods and outshot the Bruins 30-27 for the game.
The power play flipped the game
Minnesota finished 2-for-3 on the power play, a 66.7% mark that proved decisive against a Bruins penalty kill that allowed both goals. Kaprizov scored on the power play at 6:11 of the second period, converting a one-timer from a short feed by Maxim Shabanov, earning Shabanov his first NHL point. Later in the period, the Wild got 1:52 of 5-on-3 time, and Hughes beat traffic with one second left on the second minor to make it 2-1 at 12:28.
Minnesota pulled away in the third
Spurgeon extended the lead to 3-1 at 3:24 of the third period, scoring on the rush with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle. Kaprizov sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:01 left, giving him two for the night. The Wild controlled play despite winning just 48.3% of faceoffs.
Player of the game: Kirill Kaprizov
Kaprizov finished with two goals on four shots, including the tying power-play strike and the empty-netter that sealed it.
Wild vs. Bruins by the numbers
Minnesota went 2-for-3 on the power play while Boston was held scoreless on three chances. The Wild out-shot the Bruins 30-27 and forced six turnovers to Boston’s four. Wallstedt posted a .963 save percentage in his 60 minutes, well ahead of DiPietro’s .897 mark at the other end. Boston won 51.7% of faceoffs to Minnesota’s 48.3% and landed 16 hits to the Wild’s 14, but those advantages could not overcome the lopsided power-play difference.
What’s next
The Wild (2-0-0) sit atop the Central Division standings alongside Utah, both at 4 points. The Bruins (2-1-0) sit second in the Atlantic Division with 4 points.
Reporting from NHL.com contributed to this story. Official statistics: ESPN (official league data).
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