ANAHEIM, Calif. — With his old U.S. National Team Development Program coach in attendance, Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes put on a show Friday night as the Wild easily beat their favorite foe at the Honda Center.

John Wroblewski, the Southern California resident who will coach the U.S. women’s hockey team in a month as it strives for gold at the Winter Olympics, took in the Wild’s 5-2 win, which was their 20th victory in the past 21 meetings against the Anaheim Ducks and their 10th straight win in regulation in Anaheim.

The 10 straight road wins in regulation over the same opponent are the most in the NHL since the Boston Bruins beat the Minnesota North Stars 10 in a row from 1982 to ’87. The last time a team beat another 20 times in 21 meetings was the Bruins against the Coyotes from 2010-11 to 2023-24.

The Wild, 10-2-1 in their past 13 road games, improved to 3-0-1 on this current seven-game road trip.

Hughes notched his fourth career four-assist game, matched a Wild franchise record for points in a game by a defenseman (Matt Dumba in 2018) and established a franchise record for most assists in a game by a blueliner.

“I remember when Quinn was a teenager, there weren’t a whole lot of comparables,” Wroblewski said. “You’d talk to teams or publications, and they’d ask, ‘What is this guy going to be?’ And I remember saying how he’d revolutionize the way the position’s going to be played for young players. I really thought that back then and really truly today.

“Quinn just plays a different style. He defends uniquely. The puck is just magnetized to him, and when he gives it up, it just comes back to him. The events just roll out, and most of them are positive for Minnesota. He just does so many things that are unexplainable, and it’s worth the price of admission. Even as good as all these guys are, it’s a rarity to be able to say that about a handful of guys in the league, and he’s worth every penny.”

Hughes had assists on both tallies of Danila Yurov’s first career two-goal game and assisted on one goal each by Yurov’s Russian countrymen Kirill Kaprizov and Yakov Trenin. Nico Sturm also scored for the Wild, and Joel Eriksson Ek assisted on two goals and Trenin had two points. Hours after being named to Sweden’s Olympic team, Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves to improve to 7-0-1 since Dec. 8 and 10-1-2 in his past 13 starts.

Hughes notched his 28th career game with at least three assists to tie Erik Karlsson for the second-most among active defensemen (Victor Hedman has 31). Hughes has the third-most games with at least three assists by an American defenseman in NHL history, behind Hall of Famers Brian Leetch (40) and Phil Housley (34).

The Wild bused up to Santa Monica after the game for a Saturday night date at the Kings — the first of consecutive games against L.A.

Hughes continues to be a game-changer

The Wild improved to 8-1-2 since the Hughes blockbuster and 7-1-2 with him in the lineup. He now has 10 assists and 11 points in his 10 games with Minnesota, with 19 shots and a plus-8 rating while averaging more than 27 minutes per game. The Wild have scored four or more goals in seven of the 10 games.

“He does everything,” Trenin said.

Including transforming the Wild’s offensive attack from their defense.

In 32 games before acquiring Hughes, Wild defensemen had 54 points (29th in the NHL), averaged 6.6 shots per game, were plus-9 and averaged 0.47 points per game. In 10 games with Hughes, the Wild’s blueliners have 30 points (second in the NHL), are averaging 7.5 shots per game, are plus-36 and are averaging 0.86 points per game (first in the NHL).

“He’s one of those dynamic offensive players,” coach John Hynes said. “He helps you in so many different ways, from breakouts to transition to rush play and his vision in the offensive zone. I thought tonight, he did a really good job. I think he was delivering shots, and I think you have to respect him as a shot threat and he has the ability to find some open plays.”

Hughes had nine shot attempts and listened to his mom, Ellen, who told him to shoot more.

“I just think you’re a little bit passive at the start,” Hughes said of when he first got to Minnesota. “You want to fit in. You’re getting to know everyone, and coming in the fourth or third best team in the league, you don’t want to … it’s not about you. But at a certain point, they also traded a lot for me, so you gotta be yourself.

“Just finding that fine line. I think that I’m just shooting the puck a little bit more today and not being as passive and kind of just playing the way I probably would the last couple years. So, it’ll be a work in progress, but as we continue to go, like I’ve been saying this whole while, it’ll be better and better.”

Gus, the Duck hunter

Anaheim cannot love playing Gustavsson.

He improved to 5-0 all-time in Anaheim with a 1.00 GAA and is now 6-1 overall against the Ducks.

Why is he so good in Orange County? “Well, it’s warm. It’s more humid. The gear feels good here, and it’s just nice playing here. … Usually the gear’s pretty stiff after morning skate, and here it’s more humid, so the gear’s more softer.”

Filip Gustavsson loved the flying ducks during warmup: “I just never saw them before. They were pretty cool. What do you call them, blimps?” pic.twitter.com/qXiFhh3Y6G

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 3, 2026

 

Gustavsson, who was announced Friday as one of Sweden’s goalies for the Olympics, along with teammate Jesper Wallstedt and the New Jersey Devils’ Jacob Markstrom, made a number of huge saves against the Ducks, but there was none bigger than his save on a three-on-one in the first period on Chris Kreider when Hughes was the only defenseman back and had no stick.

Trenin stellar

Trenin was terrific on the Wild’s league-best road penalty kill, which went 1-for-1, and was active all night offensively on a line with Sturm and Marcus Foligno. His goal off a one-timer was well-timed, coming less than a minute after Beckett Sennecke scored to trim a Wild lead to 2-1.

After Hughes retreated to stop an odd-man rush, Eriksson Ek turned the puck the other way for a quick counter. Trenin fed Hughes, who gave it right back for Trenin’s third goal.

Trenin said he had his legs going all night because his parents were in the stands.

“This is my first goal in front of my mama (Elena), so it’s a special goal for me,” Trenin said.

YAK ATTACK !! YAK ATTACK !! pic.twitter.com/8FD8wd5wGi

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 3, 2026

Yurov keeps getting better

Yurov scored on a couple of redirections, one lucky one off his skate, but Hynes said this was not by chance.

“He scored because he was in the right spots,” Hynes said. “Obviously, Hughes made a couple nice shots. When you’re in that scoring area, which he got to tonight, it was good to see him get rewarded for it.”

sheeeeeesh Danila pic.twitter.com/RYkPssn8M2

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 3, 2026

Yurov said he’s just feeling more and more comfortable in his rookie year.

“My adaptation, I think, is over,” he said. “My English is improved every day. I speak a lot of English in the locker room and the hotel with guys. I try to do good things on the ice and just working in gym and try to get better every day.”

His English is getting so good that he even chirped Vladimir Tarasenko when it was pointed out that Friday was a good night for the Wild’s Russians.

“Vladdy had no points,” Yurov said, smiling. “If he scored, it would be great night for Russians.”