Tarasenko Takes His Shot

Vladimir Tarasenko was left alone with just under two minutes to play in overtime in a big game against the Dallas Stars on March 21. He waited patiently in the slot for a teammate to dish him the puck, then went about shooting his shot for the overtime winner, adding an emphatic fist pump and quick spin-around move on the ice in celebration of the Wild’s 2-1 win over the division rival. 

The goal was his 20th of the season and part of a stretch when he scored five goals in five games mid-March to help the Wild get closer to officially securing a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

“It’s nice when the puck goes in,” Tarasenko said in the midst of his scoring stretch in March. “I feel like there’s different parts of the season, sometimes (the) puck goes in, sometimes not. But I think the closer playoffs get, the more excited everybody gets. 
“Happy to have that production and continue to improve.” 

The 34-year-old veteran winger finished his regular season with the Wild with 23 goals and 24 assists in 75 games. He has nine 20-goal seasons in his career, and this is his first with one team since he scored 34 goals with St. Louis in 2021-22, when he also had career-highs in assists (48) and points (82).

“There is a pride to it,” Tarasenko said. “Especially after last year, there’s a lot of things going on. 

“Just try to work hard, earn my spot.” 

His 23 goals this season are tied with Ryan Hartman for third-most on the Wild, behind 40-goal scorers Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.

Tarasenko scored 11 goals and 33 points with Detroit last season after signing a two-year deal with the Red Wings in the summer of 2024. The Wild acquired him in a trade on June 30, 2025. 

After getting drafted in the first round and spending the first decade of his career with St. Louis, Tarasenko landed in Minnesota with his sixth team in four seasons, since the Blues traded him to the New York Rangers in 2023. 

“I enjoy being at the rink,” Tarasenko said. “I enjoy the guys. It’s awesome to be with the guys. Very good people, and it’s nice to be around.” 

Tarasenko got off to a slow start in scoring goals this season, with just two in his first 18 games before missing seven games with a lower-body injury in the second half of November. But he turned things around and showed shades of his best offensive production. 

He had a season-high, four-game point streak (5-3=8) in mid-January, including back-to-back multi-goal games in Toronto and Montreal. Three of those four goals came on the power play. He had a similarly productive surge a couple of months later in March, not long before his 900th career NHL game. 

He scored seven goals and 11 points in the final 15 games of the season starting March 15, recording at least a point in nine of those games. 

He acknowledged that confidence was one of the changes with his game down the stretch, but the work is never done, even during a successful scoring run. 

“If it goes well, you need to keep working,” Tarasenko said. “If it doesn’t go well, you still need to keep working and trust the process and trust myself.”

Forward Bobby Brink, a recent addition to the Wild at the trade deadline, was on the ice in overtime and fed Tarasenko the puck for the assist on that winner March 21. Brink was well aware of the laser of a shot Tarasenko has when he’s given a little space with the puck. Tarasenko’s scored more than 300 NHL goals, after all. 

“He’s been an incredible player in the league for a long time,” Brink said. “He shoots the puck so well with that wrist shot.” 

Wild coach John Hynes said he’s happy for Tarasenko for the resurgence he’s had this season in Minnesota. 

“He’s a real competitor, he wants to be good,” Hynes said. “He’s such a pro. Like the way that he works, the way that he competes, the insights that he has on the game."

“For him to be able to have a bounce-back season is a big credit to him.” 

Tarasenko is one of a few Russian-born players on the Wild roster, a veteran presence among younger players like Yakov Trenin, Kirill Kaprizov and 22-year-old Danila Yurov. The young Yurov has played on a line with Tarasenko at times this season. Yurov recalls being a 7 or 8-year-old kid watching Tarasenko play in the KHL. Yurov has learned some things from Tarasenko this season, like his shot.

“He helped me when I came in September,” Yurov said. “Not only just a lot of things in the locker room, in playing. 

“We go to dinner. … He’s one of the coolest people in my life.” 

While a young forward like Yurov will look to get his first Stanley Cup Playoff experience this spring, Tarasenko has 121 NHL playoff games behind him, including winning the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019 and again in 2024 with Florida. Two years ago, Tarasenko scored five goals and four assists in 24 playoff games on the way to the Stanley Cup. 

He has 49 career playoff goals and 73 points, having some clutch moments along the way. He scored the go-ahead goal in Game 3 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton. Wild fans might remember Tarasenko’s first career playoff hat trick, scored against Devan Dubnyk in Game 2 of the first-round series the Wild won in 2015. 

For all of his individual efforts, Tarasenko also brings the experience of knowing what it takes to get to the end of the road with a total team effort. 

“At some point, you don’t even worry about who’s getting on the scoresheet or who’s playing what,” Tarasenko said. “You just buy in all together for team success.”
Before the Wild left for Dallas ahead of the first-round series, Hynes talked about how Tarasenko is an intelligent, “big-game player” who can score, compete hard and play effectively on both sides of the puck. 

“Vladdy’s got a ton of experience, not only winning Stanley Cups but playoff experience,” Hynes said. “I think that leadership and the way he plays is certainly a playoff-style of game.”