Jesper Wallstedt is human.

That was the hard lesson Minnesota Wild fans learned late Saturday night, as the red-hot rookie goalie cooled off just a bit, and suffered his first regulation loss of the season.

Victimized for a trio of goals in the second period, Wallstedt and the Wild fell 4-2 in their lone visit to Vancouver this season, dropping their second consecutive game.

Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello scored for the Wild, who dominated early but failed to build on their first period lead. Wallstedt, now 8-1-2 as a starter, had 16 saves in the loss.

“The story of this game is we didn’t capitalize on the chances that we had,” Wild coach John Hynes said to reporters at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. “We carried play most of the night. We didn’t get rewarded for the effort we put in offensively, and then we had a couple self-inflicted wounds.”

Aatu Raty had a pair of goals, and another disallowed, for Vancouver, which had been winless in its previous four games.

Just seconds into the game, Wallstedt found himself under pressure, thwarting a Vancouver scoring chance, but upending a Canucks player in the process. Wallstedt was whistled for tripping on the play, which was the second penalty of his NHL career.

The Wild’s penalty killers, who have been on a hot streak lately, negated the Canucks advantage, then Minnesota took the lead shortly after getting back to 5-on-5. Zuccarello – who had served the Wallstedt penalty – grabbed the puck at center ice, kicking off a 2-on-1 rush to the net. His cross-ice pass set up Boldy’s 16th goal of the season.

Zuccarello’s assist on the play was the 242nd he has recorded in a Wild uniform, moving him into fourth place in franchise history, one better than Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the team’s record book. He nearly had another first period assist, with a long lead pass that caught Kirill Kaprizov behind the Vancouver defense, but his breakaway attempt was stopped.

After the Wild spent the first six minutes of the middle frame pushing to double their lead, the Canucks looked, briefly, like they had tied the game. After a lengthy review, officials determined that Raty had kicked the puck into the net and it was no goal.

But Vancouver tied the game for real on a broken play before the second period was half over, via a long-range shot through a crowd in front of Wallstedt. It was the first career goal for Canucks rookie defenseman Tom Willander. A few minutes later, another shot from the blue line fooled Wallstedt, and the Wild found themselves trailing despite all of their early scoring chances. The Canucks also scored on a 2-on-1 rush to make it 3-1, as Vancouver cashed in on three of their first nine shots on goal.

“I thought they just got a couple good bounces. They scored good hockey goals,” said Wallstedt, who had won seven in a row prior to Saturday. “That kind of just switched the momentum we just couldn’t get the puck in today.”

Minnesota made another push to start the third, but instead of cutting into the Canucks’ lead, Wallstedt’s misplayed puck behind the net ended up making it 4-1.

With Wallstedt on the bench and the Wild on a power play, Zuccarello put a wrist shot in to pull Minnesota back within a pair in the final minutes.

Canucks rookie goalie Nikita Tolopilo, making his third start of the season, had 28 saves as Vancouver moved to 1-1 versus Minnesota this season. They will finish their season series with the Wild on April 2 at Grand Casino Arena.

Coupled with Thursday’s 4-1 loss in Calgary, it is only the third time this season that the Wild have had back-to-back losses in regulation, and the first time since Oct. 25.

“We had a good run of winning a lot of games. For us, the message is just getting back to that as quick as possible,” Wild defenseman Zeev Buium said. “Not letting ourselves get down and kind of get out of this.”

The Wild conclude their four-game western road trip on Monday, facing the Kraken for the first time this season, in Seattle. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT.

Briefly

After missing the road trip’s first two games with a lower body ailment, rookie center Danila Yurov returned to the lineup and took his place as the middle man on the top line between Kaprizov and Zuccarello. His return meant a healthy scratch for bottom six center Ben Jones.

Related Articles

Hynes likes Tarasenko’s game, wants to see more shots

Recent scoring drought has Wild thinking power play

‘Boring’ goalie tandem behind Wild’s climb in West standings

Flames dominate late to douse Wild point streak

Nico Sturm a greater asset for Wild as he gets up to speed

With the Timberwolves in a tie game in the final minute and on the verge of another blown late lead in the final frame, Minnesota decided to put together one of its better possessions of Saturday’s bout with the Clippers.

Naz Reid tapped out an offensive rebound to Anthony Edwards, who swung the ball to Mike Conley. Conley drove, kicked back to Edwards, who hit Reid in the corner.

Reid buried the triple. Then he smiled.

Minnesota rallied to beat rallied to beat Los Angeles 109-106 on Saturday at Target Center.

The Wolves need more of that kind of play — and Reid’s smile.

Neither was anywhere to be found in the first three quarters Saturday. The opening 36 minutes brought as much joy as a root canal.

Then came another awe-inspiring start to the final frame.

Over the first 5 minutes, 31 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves’ offense:

-scored 23 points

-shot 6 for 7 from the field

-shot 4 for 5 from 3-point range

-assisted on five of its six makes

That beautiful brand of basketball put Minnesota in front, and the Wolves held on down the stretch.

The offense dried up from there, but the small fragment of the contest not only was enough of a buoy but also a reminder of what the Wolves can do when they play basketball with purpose.

That’s when Reid and Jaden McDaniels get rolling. That’s when Minnesota is turning defense into offense. That’s when fun was had on the floor.

It’s the type of basketball that’s repeatable and also enjoyable. And when you like what you’re doing, you’re more likely to keep doing it with energy and effort.

Reid had 19 points and eight rebounds in the win over the Clippers. McDaniels had 27, including 12 in the third quarter when Minnesota needed a spark.

Minnesota shot 44% from distance.

Julius Randle added 24 points on a slow night from Anthony Edwards, who shot 3 for 11 from the field. But Edwards made the right play on the key offensive possession.

James Harden had a look at a tying triple in the closing seconds, but it bounced off the iron. Harden led the Clippers with 34 points and six assists.

Related Articles

Timberwolves escape late in New Orleans again

Chris Finch says Timberwolves have ‘got to try to raise our standards’

Anthony Edwards’ late layup forces OT, as Timberwolves edge Pelicans 149-142

Timberwolves player net ratings through 20 games: Donte DiVincenzo is Minnesota’s new No. 1

Frederick: Timberwolves set standard in fourth quarter of Spurs win

The Gophers women’s volleyball team saw their season come to an end in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 in each of the past two seasons. Julia Hanson personally made sure her senior season didn’t come to the same conclusion on Saturday.

Behind a dominant performance from Hanson, the Gophers punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2022, beating Iowa State in three sets (25-22, 25-21 and 25-14) on Saturday, a night after they swept Fairfield.

“It’s been an amazing four years here just with the crowd and every team that I’ve been apart of, so I’m going to go out strong, no matter what it is,” Hanson said. “I knew this was my last match here (at Maturi Pavilion), so I played hard and my teammates had my back the entire time.”

The Cyclones had no answers for the All-Big Ten outside hitter on Saturday night at Maturi Pavilion as she finished the night with 23 kills.

Hanson led the Gophers with 11 kills in the first set. It was a tight set, but one in which Minnesota never trailed. In the second set, during which the two teams traded leads, Hanson had nine more kills including four on the Gophers’ final five points. And in the third, the team’s most dominant set of the night, she tallied three more to cap off her performance.

“I just trust my teammates to be able to — I’ll go for it in big moments and I think I trust them to just have my back and yeah, I just try to play free,” Hanson said.

In a season full of adversity, Hanson has been a constant for the Gophers.

Minnesota has been starting five freshmen for much of the season alongside Hanson after injuries to four starters. Two of those freshmen, Carly Gilk and Kelly Kinney, added eight kills of their own while redshirt freshman Stella Swenson had 35 assists.

And yet, despite injuries and new lineups, the wins have kept coming for the Gophers.

“When the injuries happened, it was early enough in September that I thought ‘We’ve got time,’” coach Keegan Cook said. “I knew that some of our more experienced players would carry us through a lot of matches while the young players were coming up to speed. So, you saw it kind of happen piece by piece and in the last month, I thought the last couple pieces came online and it felt like a team that was ready to try and do something.”

And now, they’ll try to keep it rolling in the Sweet 16 as the win earned the Gophers — the No. 4 seed in their section of the 64-team bracket — a date with Pittsburgh — No. 1 in the Gophers’ section of bracket — in Pittsburgh.

“I told them I don’t think we played our best match, but we don’t need to anymore, which is great. I thought Stella ran an awesome offense. I thought we fought off some amazing serving,” Cook said. “It took a lot. A three-set sweep I think sometimes doesn’t tell the whole story of just how challenging that was so I’m proud of our guys.”

Related Articles

River Falls rolls past St. John’s into Division III football quarterfinals

Gophers volleyball: Minnesota sprints to second round of NCAA Tournament

St. Thomas volleyball: Tommies fall in a first-round thriller

Gophers likely bowl destination: Rate Bowl in Phoenix

Gophers dismiss defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Carter

Look closely at the new official buttons for the 2026 St. Paul Winter Carnival.

No — look even closer.

Forest Lake artist Randall Peterson demonstrates the style of pointillism during an art fair in June 2025. Peterson is the featured button designer for the 2026 St. Paul Winter Carnival, the 140th anniversary of the festival. (Courtesy of Randall Peterson)

The buttons, designed by Forest Lake illustrator Randall Peterson, are in a pointillist style, meaning each design is made up of tens of thousands of individual dots drawn in pen.

The collection of four buttons was unveiled Saturday night at the annual tree lighting ceremony at Union Depot. The upcoming Winter Carnival is the 140th anniversary of the annual cold-weather festival.

One button depicts the ice castle built for the first St. Paul Winter Carnival in 1886, and the illustration took Peterson 81 hours to complete. In another button design, families build snowmen in front of the State Capitol building. Peterson spent about 76 hours on it.

The process, he said, is meditative.

“I like to persevere in it and have the patience to do it,” he said. “But needless to say, nobody wants me on their Pictionary team.”

You can buy the buttons online at www.wintercarnival.com/p/marketplace/buttons or at businesses including all Cub Foods and Blaze Credit Union locations, East Metro locations of Kowalski’s (Grand Avenue, Woodbury, Oak Park Heights, White Bear Lake and Shoreview) and the following:

Alary’s Bar: 139 E. 7th St.
Bad Weather Brewing: 414 W. 7th St.
Borchert’s Meat Market: 1344 Frost Ave., Maplewood
Bright Corner Gift Shop: 640 Jackson St. (inside Regions Hospital)
Camp Bar: 490 N. Robert St.
CandyLand: 435 N. Wabasha St.
City & County Credit Union: 1661 E. Cope Ave., Maplewood
History Theatre: 30 E. 10th St.
Honest-1 Auto: in Roseville (3114 N. Lexington Ave.) and Falcon Heights (1565 N. Hamline Ave.)
Landmark Center Gift Shop: 75 W. 5th St.
Minnesota History Center Museum Store: 345 Kellogg Blvd.
Pillbox Tavern: 400 N. Wabasha St.
Russell’s: 656 Grand Ave.
Saint Paul Corner Drug: 240 Snelling Ave.
Saint Paul Hotel: 350 Market St.
Teri’s Hair Studio: 2966 White Bear Ave., Suite 31, Maplewood
West St. Paul Antiques: 880 S. Smith Ave., West St. Paul

Buttons are $5 each or $19 for a pack of all four. A limited number of four-packs with a commemorative pin are available for $20.

Peterson grew up in the Midway area in St. Paul in elementary school before moving to Maplewood and then, after getting married in the 1970s, to Forest Lake. His family were not die-hard Winter Carnival-goers, but “of course, being a little whippersnapper, we did some events,” he said.

Peterson began creating pointillism illustrations about four decades ago while working in publishing; the methodical art form proved to be a calmer counterpart to the fast-paced deadlines in his day job. Many of his illustrations feature lighthouses, streetscapes, old hotels and well-known buildings like the ones depicted in his Winter Carnival buttons.

Since retiring about four years ago, Peterson now has more time for pointillism artwork — which is to say, he manages to create about 10 to 12 pieces per year, given how time-intensive the technique is.

He also runs an Etsy shop and occasionally sets up booths at art markets. In fact, it was at the 2024 Holiday Bazaar at Landmark Center that Peterson’s art first caught the eye of Winter Carnival CEO Lisa Jacobson, who then approached him about designing the 2026 button set.

“Downtown St. Paul is so historic, and so for me I thought that was a big part of the button itself,” he said. “And I wanted to also include community and family, because it’s such a family-oriented event. So I thought, let’s take the historical structures and combine them with different family events.”

The upcoming Winter Carnival, the festival’s 140th year, will take place Jan. 22 to Feb. 1, 2026.

Related Articles

History and fantasy blend in ‘Rollicking! A Winter Carnival Musical’

Review: History Theatre’s Winter Carnival musical tuneful but scattershot

Queen of the Snows candidates inspired subplot in Marisa Coughlan’s movie

St. Paul Winter Carnival seeks your memories

Winter Carnival: Candidates sought for 2026 Aurora, Queen of the Snows