Gustavsson makes 29 saves as the Wild race to an early lead and beat the Flames 4-1

Calgary Flames goaltender Devin Cooley (1) and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar (52) defend against a shot-attempt by Minnesota Wild right wing Vladimir Tarasenko (91) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Danila Yurov and Vinnie Hinostroza scored in the first period and the Minnesota Wild went on to beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 Thursday night.

Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov scored late in the third period, and Filip Gustavsson made 29 saves for the Wild, who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games.

Minnesota is tied with Tampa Bay for the second-most points in the NHL at 72. Colorado has 79 points.

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Playing the only road game of their final nine contests before the Olympic break, the Flames got a third-period goal from Morgan Frost. Calgary dropped to 0-3-2 in its past five games. Devin Cooley stopped 20 shots.

Down by a pair of goals, Frost took a long outlet pass from Jonathan Huberdeau and beat Gustavsson with a low shot 5:49 into the final period.

Moments after Minnesota killed off a Quinn Hughes penalty less than three minutes later, Hughes nearly restored the Wild’s two-goal lead, but he was stopped by Cooley on a breakaway.

Boldy redirected a Kaprizov pass for a power-play goal with 2:43 left to secure the win. Kaprizov added an empty-net goal.

Hughes also assisted on Boldy’s goal, his seventh straight game with an assist. That tied Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter for the longest assist streak in franchise history among defensemen.

Minnesota had just three shots in the first period and scored on two.

Passing to Vladimir Tarasenko in the right circle, Yurov drove through the left circle and got the puck back for a backdoor goal less than three minutes into the game.

Minnesota has scored first 33 times this season, second-most in the league.

Hinostroza scored his first goal in 25 games midway through the period, catching a long outlet pass from Jake Middleton head high at the Calgary blue line, dropping the puck and scoring from the right circle.

Minnesota is 22-0-3 when leading after two periods.

Up next

Flames: Host San Jose on Saturday.

Wild: Visit Edmonton on Saturday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Mike Cook, The Associated Press