DENVER – Nobody from Team Sweden came home from the Olympics with a medal, after losing to the Americans in the tournament’s quarterfinals. But the extra few days of rest looks to have done them some good.

The Minnesota Wild jumped back into NHL play Thursday with a statement win in Colorado, fueled by two of their Swedish Olympians. The 5-2 victory over the division-leading Avalanche came via a pair of Joel Eriksson Ek goals, and a 44-save night by goalie Filip Gustavsson.

Mats Zuccarello added an insurance goal and Matt Boldy hit the empty net twice late as the Wild pulled ahead of Dallas and within five points of the Avalanche for the lead in the Central Division. Colorado, which hosts the Wild again next week, still has two games in hand on Minnesota.

Out-shot 9-1 early, the Wild’s first bit of work for Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was notable. Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar stumbled, springing a 2-on-1 break with Boldy feeding a cross-ice pass to Marcus Johansson, whose wrist shot hit the left post, then got a piece of the goalie before a Colorado defender swatted it away from the goalmouth.

Colorado killed a pair of Wild power plays in the first, while Gustavsson turned away every puck he faced, and they went to the first intermission scoreless.

Minnesota grabbed the momentum, and the lead, in the second. Makar went to the penalty box for slashing, and the Wild capitalized on the man-advantage, when Eriksson Ek popped in the rebound of a Boldy shot.

The lead didn’t make it to the end of the period, as a rising shot by Martin Necas found open air over Gustavsson’s shoulder.

With the Wild already on a power play late in the middle frame, Boldy was cross-checked in the face, giving Minnesota 72 seconds of 5-on-3 advantage. Colorado immediately took a third penalty, extending the Wild’s two-man advantage to nearly two full minutes.

Colorado killed two of the three penalties, but was not yet back to full strength when Eriksson Ek banked the puck off the inside of Blackwood’s leg for a 2-1 lead heading into the second break.

Quinn Hughes had a helper on the goal, extending his franchise-best assist streak to 11 games.

The Wild entered the NHL’s three-week Olympic break on a heater, going 8-1-1 in their final 10 games before the pause. They face the Mammoth in Utah on Friday night.

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Twelve months after seeing its six-year run atop Class 2A come to a close, Simley is again on top of the mountain.

The Spartans completed their re-ascension with a 38-13 win over second-seeded New Ulm in the championship on Thursday in St. Paul.

The tournament’s top seed was dominant throughout its run at Grand Casino Arena. In the end, the Spartans stiffest test indeed came in the Section 1 final against Kasson-Mantorville, a nine-point victory.

After dropping the first match of the affair, Simley won the next four to claim a 15-3 advantage. Jake Kos recorded a pin at 145 pounds, one of two on the night for the Spartans. The other came at heavyweight, with senior Gregorio Duron Contreras closing the match out in style.

It was a fitting conclusion for the Spartans, whose ascension back to the top this season was keyed by noteworthy leaps from less-heralded upperclassmen at the heavier weights — a product of the season-long work put in team wide.

St. Michael-Albertville reigns

It’s a dynasty for the Knights. They claimed their third-straight Class 3A championship, downing third-seeded Shakopee 46-18. St. Michael-Albertville went a perfect 29-0 this season, with only two matches decided by single digits.

In the title bout, the Knights recorded three pins, three tech falls and a Shakopee forfeit at 189 pounds against the dominant John Murphy.

Staples-Motley wins rubber match

Meeting in the Class A state title for the third straight season, Staples-Motley took the rubber match over Chatfield on Thursday to win its second straight state title.

Chatfield raced out to an 11-3 lead, but Staples-Motley closed the dual on a 38-3 run to claim the crown.

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To say Mahtomedi is the dominant program in its boys hockey section is an understatement.

For the fifth straight season and 10th time since 2015, the Zephyrs will be representing Section 4A in downtown St. Paul in early March.

This year’s trip was booked Thursday with Mahtomedi netting three goals before the midway point of the first period and cruising to a 7-1 win over Chisago Lakes at Aldrich Arena.

Will Seevers had two goals and an assist, Tommy Boe and Kaden Gagnelius had one of each, 11 players had points, and the Zephyrs beat the Wildcats in the section final for the fourth time in five seasons. Jackson Chesak made 27 saves.

“We’ve got a great group of guys and every year it’s just a blast,” said Cody Loida, who finished with two assists, as did Blake Loida and Brayden Fuerst.

Their enjoyment will continue Wednesday at Grand Casino Arena when Class A action begins. Tournament brackets are to be unveiled on Saturday.

Mahtomedi (17-9-2), which won 4-1 at Chisago Lakes a month ago, has won 34 of its last 35 regular or postseason games against section opponents. The Zephyrs lost 3-2 at home to the Wildcats on Jan. 28, 2025.

“We take lots of pride in it. Every year it’s our goal to come out of it alive. We come to practice early every day, put all the hours in. It’s fun,” Seevers said.

Mahtomedi finished with 42 shots on goal, including 24 in a four-goal opening 17 minutes.

Ten of those came in the first four minutes with Devin O’Donnell’s tap in at the right post at 2:02 the lone goal.

Boe converted a feed from Seevers and a Gagnelius laser from the from the edge of the left circle found the corner 35 seconds at 7:32  to make it 3-0.

Seevers made it 4-0 at 14:38, diving to poke home a loose puck in the blue paint after Cody Loida’s backhand hit the post.

“That is the best start our team has had in the past two years. I don’t think we’ve put up four in the first period like that, but when we bear down and work together it’s great,” Seevers said. “We know they’re a great team, so we had to kick it hard in the first period.”

Brock Gutterman tipped home a pass from Blake Loida early in the second and Easton DeZelar scored shorthanded a couple minutes later and it was 6-0.

Nick Hansen scored and Jacob Schaeppi finished with 35 saves for Chisago Lakes (16-9-3) but it was another case of the proverbial close but no cigar. The Wildcats are 0-7 in section finals since their 2014 squad made it to the state tournament.

Since losing three of four games late in January to St. Thomas Academy and Hill-Murray, traditional state AA powers, and Hermantown, a traditional top Class A team, Mahtomedi has won six straight, scoring at least five goals in four of them.

“We have one of the toughest schedules in Class A,” Cody Loida said. “You learn from those tough losses and that’s what gets us to the point right here.”

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The St. Thomas men’s basketball team stormed out of the gate to lead by 23 points en route to an 84-62 defeat of Summit League leader North Dakota State on Thursday night at the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.

With the win, the Tommies (22-8 overall, 11-4 Summit) solidified their hold on second place in the conference, though the Bison — which entered the game with a three-game lead in the circuit with one game left after tonight — have already clinched the regular season crown.

North Dakota State (23-7, 13-2) won the initial matchup between the two teams, 68-65, on Jan. 17 in Fargo, but Thursday night belonged to St. Thomas. Carter Bjerke scored 18 of his 21 points before halftime as the Tommies went to the break leading 50-27. The Bison played their hosts to a near draw in the second half but couldn’t make any more than a one-point dent in the Tommies’ insurmountable advantage.

Bjerke and Nick Janowski each scored 21 points to share the game-high in scoring, while Nolan Minessale logged 17 points to surpass NDSU’s top scorer by four points.

The final game remaining until next week’s Summit League Championship tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D., a home matchup against Omaha (15-15, 8-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

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