Kirill Kaprizov doesn’t need much space to score a goal, but he’s not above getting a little help from the opposing goalie.

Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek scored on a strong night for the second line, Mats Zuccarello added a power-play goal and the Minnesota Wild opened the season by beating former coach Dean Evason and the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.

Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin saw more than enough potential in Brock Faber’s rookie season to sign the defenseman to an eight-year, $68 million contract extension.

The scoring binge the NHL has been on the last few seasons spread to Minnesota with hat tricks for Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov in a record-filled 10-7 win over Vancouver.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each had hat tricks and three assists for the Minnesota Wild, who faced a three-goal deficit in the second period before storming back with six unanswered goals and hanging on for a record-filled 10-7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Kirill Kaprizov scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period and Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves as the Minnesota Wild beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2.

Marc-Andre Fleury has 552 wins for second place on the NHL's career list.

Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of second place with his 552nd career win in the NHL.

Bill Guerin didn’t want to fire Dean Evason.

The Minnesota Wild have fired coach Dean Evason and assistant Bob Woods.

David Perron scored twice on the power play, including his 300th career goal, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1.

Marc-Andre Fleury wore a mask for warmups on the Minnesota Wild's Native American Heritage night after being told by the NHL that was not allowed.

Brock Faber got his first NHL goal in the first period and Filip Gustavsson stopped 41 shots for a season-opening shutout as the Minnesota Wild beat the Florida Panthers 2-0.

NHL players open their season this week.

Tennessee State University announced it will become the first historically Black college and university to introduce ice hockey.

Roope Hintz scored his fifth goal of the series, Jake Oettinger stonewalled his home-state team again, and the Stars eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 4-1 win in Game 6 of their first-round NHL playoff series.

The NHL is sending four teams to Sweden next season as part of its annual Global Series.

Tyler Seguin scored two power-play goals and Jake Oettinger made 33 saves to help the Dallas Stars bounce back from a lopsided loss and beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in Game 4 to even their first-round NHL playoff series.

The Minnesota Wild have delivered a forceful and punishing performance to take the first-round NHL playoff series lead from the Dallas Stars.

Ryan Hartman scored 12:20 into the second overtime and the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in their playoff opener Monday night, and into Tuesday morning.

Dallas center Joe Pavelski left Game 1 of the Stars’ playoff series after taking a massive hit from Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba, who was not assessed a major penalty for that after a lengthy replay review by officials.

The Minnesota Wild brought back Marc-Andre Fleury and traded Cam Talbot for Filip Gustavsson last summer to make the Fleury their primary goalie.

A handful of NHL teams have not only survived but thrived after losing a star player to injury.

Kirill Kaprizov scored with 20 seconds left in overtime, completing a natural hat trick and lifting the Minnesota Wild past the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.

Jesper Bratt had two goals and an assist as the New Jersey Devils beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-2.

The St. Louis Blues have taken another step in keeping their top young players in the fold long term.

Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 in Game 6 to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Vladimir Tarasenko had three goals in the third period to break open a tied game and series, and the St. Louis Blues pushed the Minnesota Wild to the edge of elimination with a 5-2 victory in Game 5.

Jordan Kyrou and David Perron each scored twice, Jordan Binnington made 28 saves in his first start this postseason and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 to even the best-of-seven Western Conference series at 2-2.

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots, and the Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues 5-1 to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.

Kirill Kaprizov had a hat trick and Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice for the Minnesota Wild, who snapped back at the St. Louis Blues with a 6-2 victory to even their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

So much for the notion that goals are hard to come by in the playoffs.

David Perron had a hat trick and an assist to lead the St. Louis Blues past the Minnesota Wild 4-0 in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin has been suspended four games for cross-checking Nashville's Mark Borowiecki in the face.

Andrew Copp scored 1:34 into overtime and the New York Rangers extended their winning streak to four games by beating the Detroit Red Wings 5-4.

Marc-Andre Fleury may have been the biggest winner at the NHL trade deadline, getting dealt by the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks to the potentially contending Minnesota Wild.

Marc-Andre Fleury is back in the playoff picture after the Minnesota Wild acquired the three-time Stanley Cup-winner in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Fiala both scored in the shootout to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Mitchell Marner had four goals and two assists, including a natural hat trick during the first 9:19 of the second period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs withstood a third-period rally to down the Detroit Red Wings 10-7.

Rookie Matt Boldy had his first career hat trick to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 7-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Kevin Fiala and Frederick Gaudreau each had a goal and an assist for the Minnesota Wild in a 3-2 victory over Carolina.

The St. Louis Blues cruised through the coldest outdoor game in NHL history to beat the host Minnesota Wild 6-4.

The Minnesota Wild are preparing to play in the NHL's Winter Classic for the first time.

I’ll work my way through each team in the league, alphabetically by division.

The NHL is putting all teams on pause from Wednesday through Saturday.

Jordan Greenway scored twice and the Minnesota Wild beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 for their eighth straight win.

The Minnesota Wild didn’t let a traffic jam slow them down against the New Jersey Devils.

The Detroit Red Wings have signed goalie Calvin Pickard to a one-year contract extension.

The Minnesota Wild are buying out the contracts of veteran stars Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.

Mattias Janmark notched his first career hat trick as the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 6-2 win in Game 7 of their opening-round series.

Cam Talbot made 37 saves and the Minnesota Wild beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 despite having only 14 shots on goal to stave off elimination in their opening-round playoff series.

Reilly Smith capped a three-goal second-period surge by the Vegas Golden Knights with the go-ahead score in a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has stopped 63 of 65 shots from the Minnesota Wild over the first two games of their West Division playoff series.

Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal at 3:20 of overtime lifted the Minnesota Wild past the Vegas Golden Knights 1-0 in Game 1 of their first-round series.

(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The Atlantic Coast Conference will expand use of KINEXON SafeTag contact tracing devices by equipping players, coaches and Tier 1 personnel for its upcoming men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. SafeTags measure proximity between users to provide school medical officials with contact tracing data when an individual tests positive for COVID-19. All 15 ACC schools used the devices inside team facilities during the regular season to mitigate the spread of the virus. An ACC release stated that the technology identified several high-risk close contacts of a positive case within the league. Bars, restaurants and music venues will also be able to close two hours later, at 2 a.m., instead of at midnight.

(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The NHL is down to a season-low eight players on the COVID-19 list after play on Tuesday night, five of them on the Philadelphia Flyers. That’s a marked improvement in the 11 days since the league had a season-high 59 players on the list. The Flyers have moved into third among NHL teams, with players spending a combined total of 98 days on the list, one more than Buffalo. He joined Nellie Fox (1959), Dick Allen (1972) and Frank Thomas (1993, 1994) as the team's only MVP winners. ___The West Coast Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be held without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The NHL’s COVID-19 list is now down to 13 players, marking the second-lowest total since the league first began publishing it on Jan. 13. His addition came the same day four Wild players were removed from the list: Jonas Brodin, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy and Cam Talbot. Los Angeles Kings forward Andreas Athanasiou was also cleared after spending a league-high 21 days on the list. The professional hockey team started in 2013 in the Central Hockey League, helping fill the void after the Ontario Hockey League’s Brampton Battalion moved to North Bay. The New Jersey Devils still lead all NHL teams in both the number of players and the number of combined days on the COVID-19 list.

Now their first scheduled game with Houston has been added to the postponement list. ___The Big 12 has announced the reschedule dates for nine women’s basketball games postponed this season because of COVID-19 protocols. ___The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Thursday that Louisville's men's basketball game at Virginia Tech scheduled for Saturday has been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. Ad___Saturday’s men's basketball game between Texas A&M and Florida has been postponed due to COVID-19. It's the third straight Florida men's game affected by the coronavirus.

New York Rangers coach David Quinn of the New York Rangers stands behind the bench during the team's NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, in New York. (Bruce Bennett/Pool Photo via AP)The NHL revised its virus protocols in a bid to keep the shortened season on track, but not before a fifth team was idled by COVID-19 problems. Hours after the league announced changes visible in arenas and important behind the scenes, Colorado joined the growing list of U.S.-based teams shut down for virus concerns. Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog joined teammate Tyson Jost on the league's COVID-19 unavailable list Thursday. Bettman said fewer than half the players in protocol have been because of a confirmed positive test and many of those were asymptomatic.

All rights reserved)San Jose Sharks' Dylan Gambrell, right, tries to hold back Minnesota Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen in the third period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The San Jose Sharks will open their home schedule in the desert. The Sharks’ first two home games will be Feb. 1 and 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights at Gila River Arena, home of the Arizona Coyotes. The Sharks held training camp in Arizona due to a ban on contact sports in California’s Santa Clara County. ___The Arizona women’s basketball team has postponed Sunday’s game against Colorado due to COVID-10 protocols within the program. The Bucknell men’s and women’s basketball games against Lehigh scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday are also postponed and will be rescheduled.

The NHL won't take it outside and open 2021 with the Winter Classic in Minnesota but still hopes to get the hockey season going around the start of the new year. The league on Thursday canceled the Winter Classic scheduled for Jan. 1 at Target Field in Minneapolis and All-Star Weekend that was set for late January in Sunrise, Florida. No guarantee of being able to host fans led to the cancellation of the two signature events. The league hopes to bring them back to those cities in future years. “The NHL has given us every indication that the Winter Classic is coming to the State of Hockey and Target Field when it is safe to do so and our fans can fully embrace it,” Wild president Matt Majka said.

Jacob Markstrom left Vancouver to sign a six-year, $36 million contract with the Calgary Flames. The Wild quickly addressed their goaltending needs after trading Devan Dubnyk to San Jose, by signing Cam Talbot signing a three-year, $11 million deal. — Veteran forward Wayne Simmonds was among the first free agents to sign, reaching a one-year $1.5 million deal with the Maple Leafs. With starting goalie Corey Crawford leaving for New Jersey in free agency, the Blackhawks also signed goalie Malcolm Subban to a two-year, $1.7 million contract. — The Senators and newly acquired goalie Matt Murray agreed to two-year, $25 million deal.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday night the NHL is targeting a Jan. 1 start for next season. That declaration came after recent talks between the league and NHL Players’ Association. NHL teams are expected to get camps of at least two weeks, just as they did before the expanded playoffs over the summer. Free agency opens Friday, with the NHL looking to speed through the offseason while planning to play in 2021. “It’s kind of been refreshing to get back and have somewhat of a tentative date for when we’re going to be coming back,” Washington Capitals defenseman Brenden Dillon said.

(AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King, File)The Minnesota Wild traded goalie Devan Dubnyk and forward Ryan Donato to the San Jose Sharks in two separate deals on Monday, continuing their makeover under general manager Bill Guerin. The Sharks sent their fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft for Dubnyk and also received Minnesota's 2022 seventh-rounder in return. The Wild now own two 2021 picks from the Penguins, who traded next year's first-rounder to Minnesota for forward Jason Zucker. Donato, who is the son of former Bruins stalwart Ted Donato, has 29 goals and 28 assists in 130 career NHL games. The 26-year-old Soucy had seven goals, seven assists and a team-leading plus-16 rating in 55 games in his first full NHL season.

Maple Leafs, 4 p.m.Thursday, Aug. 6 : Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets, TBDFriday, Aug. 7 : Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets*, TBDSunday, Aug. 9: Blue Jackets vs. Lightning, 4 p.m.Wednesday, Aug. 5 : Lightning vs. Bruins, 4 p.m.Thursday, Aug. 6 : Capitals vs. Flyers, TBDSaturday, Aug. 8 : Bruins vs. Capitals, TBDSunday, Aug. 9: Flyers vs. Lightning, TBDWestern Conference (Edmonton)(5) Edmonton Oilers vs. (12) Chicago BlackhawksSaturday, Aug. 1 : Blackhawks vs. Oilers, 3 p.m.Monday, Aug. 3 : Blackhawks vs. Oilers, 10:30 p.m.Wednesday, Aug. 5 : Oilers vs. Blackhawks, 10:30 p.m.Friday, Aug. 7 : Oilers vs. Blackhawks*, TBDSaturday, Aug. 8: Blackhawks vs. Oilers*, TBD(6) Nashville Predators vs. (11) Arizona CoyotesSunday, Aug. 2 : Coyotes vs. Predators, 2:30 p.m.Wednesday, Aug. 5: Predators vs. Coyotes, 2:30 p.m.Friday, Aug. 7 : Predators vs. Coyotes*, TBDSunday, Aug. 9: Coyotes vs. Predators*, TBD(7) Vancouver Canucks vs. (10) Minnesota WildSunday, Aug. 2 : Wild vs. Canucks, 10:30 p.m.Tuesday, Aug. 4 : Wild vs. Canucks, 10:45 p.m.Thursday, Aug. 6 : Canucks vs. Wild, TBDFriday, Aug. 7 : Canucks vs. Wild*, TBDSunday, Aug. 9: Wild vs. Canucks*, TBD(8) Calgary Flames vs. (9) Winnipeg JetsSaturday, Aug. 1 : Jets vs. Flames, 10:30 p.m.Monday, Aug. 3 : Jets vs. Flames, 2:30 p.m.Tuesday, Aug. 4 : Flames vs.