WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Amid all of the Wild training camp hype surrounding new arrivals Nico Sturm and Vladimir Tarasenko, the full-time arrival of rookies like Danila Yurov and Jesper Wallstedt, and the contract extensions handed to Filip Gustavsson and Kirill Kaprizov, there was another storyline that probably should have been noted as a bigger deal.

Veteran forward Mats Zuccarello was injured, we learned in September. Not only would he miss all of training camp, he might not be ready until after Thanksgiving because of a lower body ailment, maybe not unexpected for a 38-year-old mainstay with more than 1,000 NHL games on his resume.

As the Wild slouched out of the gate, winning just three times in their first dozen games, the “things will get better when Zuccy returns” mantra was heard again and again from fans looking for any reason to be optimistic about the season.

It can hardly be a coincidence, then, that after Sunday’s game in Winnipeg, the Wild are 7-0-1 since Zuccarello returned for a Nov. 7 road game against the New York Islanders. On that night on Long Island, Zuccarello notched a highlight reel assist in his 2025-26 debut, and had an assist versus the Jets on Sunday, giving him eight points (one goal, seven assists) in his first eight games.

“I think Zuccy brings a personality and a veteran presence to the team that I think is very positive,” Wild coach John Hynes after Zuccarello posted his fifth point in three games in a 5-0 victory Friday in Pittsburgh. “He’s a highly talented player that plays the game in the right way, I think.

“Just (with) his attitude around the group, he can loosen some things up. But he can do that because he plays the right way. So it’s good to see him come back right off the injury, and he has made a major impact for us.”

Part of that impact can be seen on the ice, clearly. But the Zuccarello teammates and media meet behind the locker room doors is a force all its own. He also has shown some grit since returning from injury, fighting his way into the lineup for a Nov. 15 home win over Anaheim despite dealing with an illness that added pregame IV fluids to Zuccarello’s pregame routine.

One of the rare Norwegian players in the NHL, Zuccarello made his debut in the 2010-11 season with the Rangers and spent his first nine seasons in New York. After a brief stint with the Dallas Stars, Zuccarello signed with Minnesota in 2019.

Zuccarello has declined to speak about the impact he has made on the ice since returning, although it appears that’s only around reporters.

“He talks to me about it, I can tell you that,” Hynes said, with a smile.

Briefly

Hynes said Sunday that forward Vinnie Hinostroza, who suffered a lower body injury Friday in Pittsburgh, will be out week-to-week. His loss coincided with the return of Sturm from the back surgery he had following a training camp injury, so the Wild have not had to call up a forward. Hinostoza left the team’s road trip and returned to Minnesota to meet with doctors after the injury.

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt’s nickname among his Minnesota Wild teammates is “Wally.” They might be dropping the “Y” soon.

Visiting a hot-shooting Jets team on Sunday, Wallstedt stopped everything thrown his way, backstopping the Wild’s 3-0 win as their red-hot November rolls on.

With 32 saves, Wallstedt posted his third shutout in his last four starts, and improved to 6-0-2 as his candidacy for NHL rookie of the year becomes more and more legitimate.

“He’s playing like a wall right now. It’s fun to watch, and it gives us all confidence,” said Wild defenseman Brock Faber, who scored his first career shorthanded goal Sunday. “It took time for him to get here. He worked and battled and went through adversity and ups and downs, and to see him playing the way he can play, it’s incredible, and we just need to keep it rolling for him and (Filip Gustavsson).”

The Wild got goals from Danila Yurov, Faber and Kirill Kaprizov, running their record to 9-1-1 this month.

Perhaps most importantly, they played with a lead, again, scoring first for the franchise-record 12th consecutive game.

As opposed to recent fast starts, they needed more than seven minutes to get a shot on goal Sunday afternoon. They stiffened defensively and survived the game’s first penalty, not allowing a shot while Yakov Trenin had a two-minute break.

The first period ended scoreless, with Winnipeg holding a 9-7 shots advantage, which is notable after Minnesota was outshot 6-0 before the game’s first media timeout.

The Jets were roaring again early in the middle frame, forcing Wallstedt to keep the door shut, stopping Jets star Kyle Connor all alone at the top of the crease after a Wild turnover deep in the defensive zone. He also got some help, as Jonas Brodin pulled a puck off the goal line during a chaotic sequence around the Minnesota net.

On the ensuing shift, Trenin fed Yurov with a quick pass, and the Russian rookie popped in his third career goal before Jets netminder Eric Comrie could flinch.

“All year long, he has been real solid, I think, on the defensive end, and just with his hockey smarts. But now I think he’s getting more confidence with the puck, when to make plays,” Wild coach John Hynes said of Yurov. “When he doesn’t have plays to make, I think he’s putting pucks in the good areas, and because of his smarts, he found his way into that area of the ice tonight, where Trenin was able to make the play for him, he put it home.”

And then the fists flew, with Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno and Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry exchanging unpleasantries. Each man got the requisite fighting major penalty, but while Lowry went to the penalty box, Foligno headed to the locker room, and the ice crew cleaned blood off the rink.

After getting his cut hand mended, Foligno returned to the Wild bench when the five minutes expired.

The Wild controlled play during their first power play of the game and tested Comrie, but the man advantage was abbreviated, as Kaprizov was called for holding.

But with the Wild killing the Kaprizov penalty, Faber flipped the puck out of danger, which started a 2-on-1 rush to the net. Rather than shoot, Marcus Johansson flipped the puck back to Faber, whose long-range blast found the upper corner. It was the Wild’s second shorthanded goal of the past week.

Kaprizov’s seeing-eye shot in the third period sailed just under the crossbar for his 13th goal of the season, tying him with Matt Boldy for the team lead.

But Wallstedt, who now leads the NHL in shutouts, was the story once again, although he was quick to share the love.

“The way our team has sacrificed themselves, I feel like we’re one of the teams that blocks the most shots, we try to get in front of every puck,” said Wallstedt, who became the youngest goalie in NHL history to post a five-game winning streak. “They take away sticks and everything. And boxing out. So I can focus on my job. I feel like pucks have been getting stuck in me, and hopefully I show some calmness back there, that I can show that they can trust me.”

Comrie had 26 saves for the Jets, who won in St. Paul last month in the season’s first meeting between these Central Division rivals.

In this season of a condensed schedule, the Wild get a rare two-day break before closing out their three-game road trip with a 7:30 p.m. game Wednesday night in Chicago. It will be the first of three meetings between the Wild and Blackhawks this season.

Briefly

The Jets are celebrating their 15th season in Manitoba since relocating from Atlanta in the summer of 2011. In 2008, the team then known as the Atlanta Thrashers used the third overall pick in the NHL draft on defenseman Zach Bogosian, now with the Wild. As of this season, Bogosian and Vancouver winger Evander Kane are the only two active NHLers who played for the Thrashers.

Minnesota Wild Zach Bogosian (24) dumps Winnipeg Jets’ Jonathan Toews (19) in front of his goaltender Jesper Wallstedt (30) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday Nov. 23, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

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GREEN BAY, Wis. — Edge rusher Micah Parsons showed why the Green Bay Packers were willing to make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

Parsons, facing the Vikings for the first time as an NFC North opponent, had two of Green Bay’s five sacks as the Packers’ defense dominated in a 23-6 victory Sunday.

“They brought me here to pash rush,” Parsons said. “If a team wants to run 40 times a game, what’s your pass rusher supposed to do? All I do is keep the edge. If I can pass rush, I can affect the game.”

Parsons was acquired from Dallas just before the start of the regular season in a blockbuster trade for two first-round draft picks and defensive lineman Kenny Clark. Parsons was rewarded with a four-year $186 million deal worth $46.5 million per year.

Parsons’ presence was evident as Minnesota managed just 145 yards total offense, including 93 on the ground.

Under constant pressure, Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy completed 12 of 19 passes for 87 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions with a passer rating of 34.2.

“Teams that are just going to run the ball, they’re trying to minimize the game. But guess what? We’re a really good defense. We have to find ways to stop the run and work as a team to put teams in a position where they can’t pass the ball.”

A critical special teams mistake put the Vikings in a position where they were forced to pass. Myles Price botched a punt on the first series of the third quarter; he called for a fair catch but didn’t catch it, then touched the ball on the rebound. The Packers recovered at the Minnesota 5-yard line. Two plays later, Emanuel Wilson scored on a one-yard run to put Green Bay in front 17-6.

“That punt was huge,” Parsons said. “Changed the whole momentum of the game. … I told the guys at halftime, ‘They had eight passes.’ Five were play-action, there was one true back when we got pressure, and two of them were screens. So I was like, ‘No one’s going to let us pass rush, we’ve got to go earn it.’ ”

McCarthy was sacked at least once on each of the Vikings’ next three possessions, including two by Parsons, followed by two interceptions.

“Back-to-back negatives are hard to overcome, especially against that group,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “When you end up third-and-12, third-and-15, third-and-17, whatever we were, (it’s) not the formula in any way, shape or form.”

Once the Packers got the lead, that allowed the pass rushers to tee off, which made it easier for the secondary.

“We like playing with the lead because you get to let the big dogs eat,” said Packers cornerback Evan Williams, who had one of the Packers’ picks. “Being able to have those guys up front makes our job very easy.”

“We just get to our spots and cover whatever routes are through our zone,” Williams added. “You understand that the ball, if it comes out, it probably won’t be on time, might be wobbly in the air, hanging in the air, just because the quarterback’s got to think about those people off the edge.”

Parsons’ two sacks gave him a team-high 10 on the season. He had 52.5 sacks in four seasons with the Cowboys.

“I feel like 10 sacks for the standard of player you are. That should be the minimum you should get,” he said.

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The Vikings’ offensive performance on Sunday in Green Bay was the kind you’d see from a 3-12 team playing out the string in a pointless Week 17 tilt long after being eliminated from playoff contention.

Of a team that was on its backup quarterback and had its fanbase saying, “We have to get a better No. 2 next offseason so we don’t have to go through THIS again.”

Of a team that did not have any interest in opening up its playbook, and when it was finally forced to, you understood why.

Minnesota managed four total yards of offense in the second half of a 23-6 loss to Green Bay on Sunday. That number dips below zero if you include a five-yard loss on a false start infraction.

The second half drive chart:

— three and out

— three and out

— three and out

— Interception

— Interception

The offensive highlights of the final 30 minutes were sacks of J.J. McCarthy where the quarterback was ruled down at his own 1-yard line rather than them being ruled safeties.

The game was over the moment Minnesota went down multiple scores after a blunder by Myles Price on a punt return. The Vikings couldn’t block Packers star edge rusher Micah Parsons, or anyone else on Green Bay’s defensive front.

McCarthy isn’t nearly good enough at this juncture to operate the offense under the most optimal conditions, as proven last week in a 19-17 loss to Chicago wherein Minnesota played 58 minutes of putrid offense … at home … against one of the worst defenses in football.

When facing a good defense in a bad script? Forget it, it’s over.

It’s non-competitive.

Minnesota’s offense is an eyesore. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell admitted postgame to reporters that his team’s margin for error is “razor thin” at the moment. The narrow path to victory he described sounded like a team hoping to milk the clock to shorten the game and win 13-10.

Never would you have thought this was possible in the O’Connell era. In the coach’s previous three seasons guiding the Vikings’ offense, Minnesota has ranked sixth, fifth and sixth in the NFL in passing yards. That includes a season in which Josh Dobbs, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall took turns filling in after Kirk Cousins went down with a season-ending injury.

Minnesota is averaging 138 yards through the air in McCarthy’s six starts. On a day where they lost by three scores, the Vikings attempted only 19 passes, and even that somehow felt like too many.

There was never a guarantee Minnesota would always be good, but with O’Connell, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, the assumption was the Vikings would always be fun. Yet this neutered offense is currently one of the toughest watches in football.

It can be enjoyable to watch a youthful signal caller learn, develop and blossom, even amid growing pains. But this experiment is getting worse every week. O’Connell and McCarthy keep referring to mechanical changes the 22 year old is attempting to master and implement on the fly.

That process, frankly, feels impossible to complete midseason. It’s currently going about as poorly as you’d expect.

As a result, fans likely feel worse and worse about this team with each passing performance. And with playoff odds now sitting south of 5% after this latest loss, what’s the point of tuning in?

It’s certainly not for entertainment; there was none of that to be found on Sunday.

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