If there is one area of the game that Minnesota Wild fans looked forward to the most with the addition of Quinn Hughes it is the power play. Hughes picked up his first power play assist with his new team in Tuesday’s 5-0 victory over the Washington Capitals. Along the way he helped his teammate set a franchise record. Hughes started the play and Kirill Kaprizov finished it off, and with the goal, Kaprizov set the Wild’s record with his 70th career power play goal.
Kirill Kaprizov is the new @mnwild franchise leader in power-play goals! 💚 pic.twitter.com/5QgelsZKSQ
— NHL (@NHL) December 17, 2025
The goal started with Hughes running the special team unit from the point. After deferring with a pass on a previous sequence, Hughes decides to fire it into a crowd in front of Charlie Lindgren. Joel Eriksson Ek provided such a great screen that the shot actually hits him in the side. Kaprizov is there to pounce on the loose puck and does a great job of elevating it on his backhand to beat the Washington netminder. Is it the prettiest goal that the duo is going to hook up to score together this season? It’s unlikely, but it still counts the same.
Prior to the tally, Kaprizov had been tied with Zach Parise at 69, and now he stands alone. Not only is he atop the scoring category, but he did it in almost 200 fewer games than it took Parise. Kaprizov scored his 70th goal in his 353rd game as a Wild while it took Parise 558.
In addition to claiming that record, Kaprizov also moved into second place in goals overall as he moved ahead of Mikko Koivu with his 206th career goal. Now, only Marian Gaborik stands above the 28-year-old Russian with 219. With the tear that Kaprizov is on, that number is well in his sights for this season.
His ability to stay healthy this season has propelled Kaprizov to 21 goals on the season (with 8 coming on the power play), and at this pace he could approach his career-high of 47 set back in the 2021-22 season. Could he be the Wild’s first 50-goal scorer? Perhaps. Having Hughes firing bombs from the point on the power play can only help with that pursuit.
The goal helped the Wild to their fifth win in a row. After a little blip earlier in the month with losses to Calgary and Vancouver, Minnesota has knocked off Seattle, Dallas, Ottawa, Boston, and now Washington. Filip Gustavsson stopped all 25 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season. Danila Yurov had 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) while Vlad Tarasenko scored twice and added an assist.
They head out on the road for a brief, one-game road trip to Columbus before a three-game road trip that features big games against Edmonton, Colorado, and Nashville.