Wild cruise past Bruins, run point streak to 11 games

BOSTON – Ryan Hartman and Danila Yurov each scored twice for the Minnesota Wild, who extended their point streak to 11 games with a 6-2 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday.

“It was good,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “We talked about trying to finish the trip strong. This was going to be a heavyweight fight tonight in our minds against a very good team like Boston and it’s always a hard, physical game here. I thought our guys showed up the right way.” 

Blake Coleman had a goal and two assists, and Quinn Hughes added a goal and assist for the Wild (15-3-4), who are 9-0-2 during their point streak and have won eight in a row on the road. Kirill Kaprizov had two assists and Jesper Wallstedt made 30 saves.

“Our starts have been really good, especially being on the road so much to start the year, it’s a tough schedule at the beginning of the season, but we’ve been playing really well and it’s been great,” Hartman said. “We’ve been starting off really well, which is a big thing on the road, starting with a lead and taking the crowd out of it.”

Hughes (five goals, 12 assists) and Kaprizov (six goals, 14 assists) each extended their point streaks to 11 games. They each have points in 20 of Minnesota’s 22 games.

“We just have a really good team,” Hughes said. “‘Wally’s’ on it, and to get Brock (Faber) back, our D corps is just as good as anyone’s and obviously we have the depth up front, toughness, and our top line is the best out there.”

Brock Faber made his season debut for the Wild with one assist and was plus-4 in 24:29. The defenseman had been sidelined after suffering a skull fracture on Sept. 25 in a preseason game against the Dallas Stars.

“Honestly, it was a pretty fortunate game on my end,” Faber said. “I don’t think it was my best, but I felt OK. I felt better than I thought I would, but definitely some things to clean up . . . got to keep getting in better shape, getting stronger and faster. Other than that, it should come back pretty quick.”

David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Jeremy Swayman made 19 saves for the Bruins (13-6-1).

“You get into this kind of position with this team that’s been playing really well lately and it’s going to be tough to come back,” Pastrnak said. “They’re a really good team and they took advantage of our mistakes and sloppy plays and won the game right away . . . we’re not playing our way right now. We have to play better defensively.”

Hartman gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:54 of the first period. With Charlie McAvoy in the box for cross-checking, Minnesota created several quality chances during the man-advantage and finally capitalized seconds after the penalty expired. Coleman and Hartman created a nifty give-and-go behind the net before his wrister from the left circle beat Swayman high glove.

“We’re winning hockey games and that’s the most important part,” Hartman said of the third line’s contributions of late. “Just trying to help with depth scoring. We know what that first line is going to do and they’ve been doing it all season, so we’re trying to give them some help.”

During 4-on-4 play, Hughes’ wrister from the high slot found its way through traffic and beat a screened Swayman for a 2-0 lead 53 seconds into the second period.

Coleman increased the lead to 3-0 at 2:00 when his one-timer from inside the blue line deflected off defenseman Nikita Zadorov and slipped past Swayman.

Fraser Minten cut the deficit to 3-1 for Boston with his power-play goal at 8:45.

“We came out flat at the start of the second, and chasing against a really good hockey team makes it really tough,” Minten said. 

Hartman pushed it to 4-1, receiving a cross-ice pass from Kaprizov and finishing a 3-on-2 rush by beating Swayman on the short side at 10:00.

“When I’m out there with Kirill, go to the net and he’s going to find you and I beat him clean,” Hartman said.

After Pastrnak’s goal made it 4-2 at 4:45 of the third period, the Wild called a timeout and quickly responded with Yurov’s goal at 6:15 for a 5-2 lead. His empty-netter at 15:21 made it a 6-2 final.

“We gave them a lot and kept them in this game longer than we should have, but 3-0 on this road trip is a really good road trip and that’s how we need to look at it,” Faber said. “We’ll go home for a couple of days then it’s back on the road.”

NOTES: The Wild have outscored opponents 34-12 during their eight-game road win streak. They lead the NHL with 10 road wins. … Minnesota has scored first in 11 straight games, which is one shy of the longest run in franchise history during the 2025-26 season. … With his goal, Hughes matched the longest point streak by a defenseman in Wild history, a record he established during his first season in 2025-26. He became the fastest Wild defenseman to reach 30 points in a season, and also established the third-fastest pace to 30 points by an American defenseman. … It’s the first time this season the Bruins have lost consecutive games on home ice.