Minnesota is in the midst of the easiest portion of its schedule this season, and the Wolves are taking advantage.

Two nights after blitzing Utah in Minneapolis, the Timberwolves gave the Kings a similar treatment in Sacramento. Minnesota again seized control early and never looked back en route to a 144-117 road victory Sunday in California.

Here are the takeaways from another impressive performance:

Taking care of business

Sacramento is expected to be a cellar dweller in this year’s Western Conference. Particularly coming off a dominant win Friday, these are the types of situations where Minnesota — or anyone, for that matter — would be susceptible to a letdown performance that allowed the Kings to stick around for the majority of the evening.

But Minnesota led by as many as nine in the first quarter, and the lead ballooned to 17 by the break.

The Wolves have handled the likes of Charlotte, Brooklyn, Utah and now Sacramento with relative ease thus far this season by not overlooking opponents, regardless of their league standing. A similar mentality would serve Minnesota well over the next couple weeks as the cupcakes continue to be served.

Gobert goes off

Rudy Gobert #27 of the Minnesota Timberwolves blocks a shot by Domantas Sabonis #11 of the Sacramento Kings in the first quarter at Golden 1 Center on Nov. 09, 2025 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Rudy Gobert blocked a Domantas Sabonis shot in the first minute of Sunday’s affair, then grabbed the board and went coast-to-coast. Oftentimes, those situations end in a miscue. But Sunday, Gobert maintained control and scored on the other end.

It was that type of night for the center. Gobert set the tone in the first quarter with his poise and aggression and carried it forward throughout the game.

He finished with 19 points — on 9-for-10 shooting — to go with 12 boards and a gaudy five blocked shots.

After a slow start to the season, the Frenchman is back to flirting with, or achieving, double-doubles on a nightly basis, while serving as a legitimate defensive deterrent in the paint.

Offense hums

Minnesota found a team-wide offensive rhythm in Anthony Edwards’ absence when the guard was out with a hamstring strain, and his return has done nothing to harm the cause.

The Timberwolves continue to play with pace and ball movement. While Edwards has upped his aggression the last two times out — after tallying a 29-point first half Friday, he had 26 points in 30 minutes, even with a slow shooting start, Sunday — Minnesota also continues to find opportunities for its other offensive weapons within the flow of the offense.

Jaden McDaniels’ supreme efficiency rolls out, as he scored 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting Sunday. He’s now scored 21-plus points in five of Minnesota’s last seven games — shooting 15 for 20 from 3-point range in that span — and has scored in double figures in every game this season.

As a team, the Wolves shot 54% from the field on Sunday, burying 18 triples while also scoring 64 points in the paint. They scored 40 points apiece in the second and third frames.

Minnesota next plays Monday night in Utah.

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One thousand games into his NHL career, Marcus Johansson is playing some of his best hockey.

The Wild wing started his 1,000th NHL game with a career-best points streak of eight games and extended it to nine in Minnesota’s 2-0 victory over a struggling Calgary Flames team Sunday night at Grand Casino Arena.

Matt Boldy converted on Johansson’s centering pass from the top of the right circle to break a scoreless tie with 6 minutes, 13 seconds left in the second period for a 1-0 lead, and Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty netter with 50 seconds left as the Wild improved to 4-1-0 in November.

Jesper Wallstedt, making his first start of the season that wasn’t part of a back-to-back, was sharp, stopping several Grade-A chances from a Flames team that was active in the Wild’s end. Calgary outshot the Wild 35-19, but Wallstedt finished with his second NHL shutout.

Early in the second period, Wallstedt laid out to stop a breakaway by Jonathan Huberdeau with his right leg. Later, he swallowed a point-blank one-timer from first-line winger Yegor Sharangovich with his midsection.

Working on a second cycle on the forecheck at the tail end of the second period, Joel Eriksson Ek corralled a puck behind the red line and banked it out to Johansson high between the circle and blue line. Johansson sent a quick pass to Boldy as he skated into the slot.

Boldy took a second to control the puck before snapping it near post, where it snuck past Devin Cooly for a 1-0 lead at 13:47.

The Flames spent the final 45 seconds of the second period in the Wild zone and put several shots on net, all turned back by Wallstedt. After two periods, the Flames were outshooting the Wild 23-16.

Midway through the third period, Yakov Trenin was sent to the box for tripping Matt Coronato. The Flames had a good chance to tie the game when Coronato had the puck in the crease, but Wallstedt stopped the shot, and Faber later cleared a puck from the crease.

The Flames had another man advantage after Kirill Kaprizov was called for tripping. Again, Calgary failed to score, and the Wild shortened the man advantage when Eriksson Ek stole the puck and was tripped by Mackenzie Weegar as he tried to break out of the zone.

On the Wild’s power play, Kaprizov came close to pounding the puck behind Cooley at the right corner but was fought off by a defender.

The Flames pulled Cooley for an extra attacker with 2 minutes remaining. After Wallstedt stopped a shot from the point by Nazem Cadry, Eriksson Ek poked the puck out of the zone, where it was picked up by Kaprizov.

Kaprizov skated in alone for the empty netter at 19:10.

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Before Sunday’s games, Wild left winger Yakob Trenin led the NHL with 72 hits. Teammate Marcus Foligno was 10th with 53, making the Wild the only team with two Top 10 hitmen.

For now, they’re playing on the same line, bracketing rookie center Danila Yurov on the fourth line in last Friday’s 5-2 victory over the Islanders in Long Island, N.Y., and again for Sunday’s home game against Calgary.

So, is this the NHL’s bad-ass line?

“I don’t know, maybe,” Trenin said after Sunday’s morning skate at TRIA Rink. “That’s what we want to be.”

Last season, Foligno and Trenin finished 10th and 12th in regular-season hits with a combined 494 in 153 games.

Foligno, listed at 6-foot-3 and 226 pounds, has always played heavy. At 34, he has a career 2,667 hits in 14-plus NHL seasons. Trenin, a solid 6-2 and, officially, 201 pounds, has 1,018 in six-plus seasons.

“I think if you look at guys like him and Marcus, that’s part of their identity as a player, to be physical,” coach John Hynes said. “Now, it’s not running around and taking yourself out of position to do it, but when Trenny has an opportunity to bump guys or be physical, it’s a factor.”

Both players have the same style, Hynes said.

“When they hit, they hit through people,” the coach said. “They’re not like a regular guy who can come in contact with people.”

Trenin, 28, had a career-high 241 hits for the Wild last season, his first after signing a free-agent deal with Minnesota. He was well aware Sunday that he was leading the NHL, and proud of it.

“Always been hitting a lot, always been in, like, the top 10,” he said. “This time, I’m just there.”

Any difference between a Trenin and Foligno hit?

“Not much, maybe just a couple pounds different,” Foligno said. We play a game similar to each other, and being on the same line now, hopefully it’s a good thing for our team.”

Grand game

Wing Marcus Johansson was set to play his 1,000th career NHL game on Sunday. Playing his 16th NHL season, Johansson, 35, entered the game with a career-high eight-game points streak (5-5–10) and extended it to nine with a second-period assist on a goal by Matt Boldy.

“I had him in New Jersey years ago (2018-19), and he still looks the same — his fitness level, his ability to skate, his hockey sense,” Hynes said. “He can play multiple roles, you know: three on three, four on four, power play, penalty kill. So, I think his ability makes him a valuable piece to a team.”

Briefly

Nico Sturm, a Stanley Cup-winning veteran signed in part for his career 56.5 faceoff success, is nearing a return from an upper body injury that has kept him off the ice all season. He has started skating with skating coach Andy Ness, and Hynes said his initial prognosis of 6-8 weeks would get him back with the team around the end of this month.

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Who doesn’t love the look of an apparent maniac vociferously bobbing his head during his coach’s postgame locker room speech after a big win?

There’s a lot to like about J.J. McCarthy — he’s passionate, competitive and fierce. He’ll put his body on the line. His teammates rally around him.

Those are all traits any team would want in its franchise quarterback. But the ability to consistently complete the forward pass is helpful, as well.

McCarthy was 9 for 12 out of the gates in last week’s thrilling victory in Detroit, but he completed just five of his final 13 attempts in that contest. It was more of the same Sunday, as McCarthy completed 8 of his first 11 passes while leading Minnesota to a 10-3 lead at U.S. Bank Stadium.

He went 12 for 31 the rest of the way — 39%. For reference, in the Monday night fiasco in 2013, Josh Freeman completed 37% of his passes in the Meadowlands.

McCarthy’s accuracy, particularly as games unfold, has not been NFL-caliber to date. Through four starts, he’s completing 54% of his passes while throwing for 173 yards per game. The signal caller has five touchdown passes versus six interceptions.

Those are Josh Rosen numbers cloaked under Tim Tebow intangibles, all in an offense that traditionally delivers Matthew Stafford-like production with almost anyone under center.

Minnesota has played 62 games under coach Kevin O’Connell. Only 10 times in that span has the Vikings’ starting quarterback completed fewer than 57% of his passes. McCarthy is responsible for three of those outings through just four starts.

McCarthy has yet to finish with a total QBR in the top half of the league’s QBs in any week this season. Anything sub-50 is a bad number in that metric, which is produced by ESPN. McCarthy’s best Total QBR this season was a 54 posted against Detroit. On Sunday, it was a 19.

Pick any quarterback stat you’d like at the moment. There are very few charts and graphs circulating social media these days that have McCarthy positioned anywhere other than toward the bottom.

O’Connell said McCarthy “competed” on Sunday. That will be true every time he takes the field. There’s nothing apathetic about the way the 22-year-old approaches the game. You see the juice flowing through his veins when success occurs, as well as the frustration when things aren’t going well.

The latter look is becoming all too familiar.

Yes, he’s only 22. Yes, Sunday marked his fourth NFL start.

O’Connell is quick to remind everyone of as much. But the list of quarterbacks who’ve struggled to complete a high volume of passes early in their career and then went on to achieve great things is … Josh Allen and ?

Sunday certainly wasn’t all McCarthy’s fault. The Myles Price kick return fumble was costly. That wasn’t a sterling showing from Justin Jefferson, who continues to struggle with McCarthy under center. The pre-snap penalties were a major problem (though the quarterback surely owns a chunk of that blame).

It’s not as though Sunday’s performance alone is enough to sound alarms. But on the whole, there aren’t enough flashes to date to suggest McCarthy is a guy who can efficiently run a high-octane offense.

The easy stuff is not yet automatic.

“Every snap right now there’s major growth and learning and teaching going on for a guy that was really making his fourth start,” O’Connell said.

Fortunately for McCarthy, and Minnesota, this doesn’t look like a playoff team. So the heat to look for better options to start under center is, in the interim, set on “low.” This can be a developmental season in which things are learned and strides are made.

But strides do need to be made. Because seven more games of this lack of efficiency in the passing game would leave the Vikings with no choice but to look for alternative options for 2026. San Francisco cut the cord on Trey Lance when he was 22. Arizona moved on from Rosen after his age 21 season.

No, it doesn’t look *that* bad with McCarthy.

The problem is, it also doesn’t look that much better.