Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson scored goals in the second and third periods as the Minnesota Wild built an early lead then saw it slip away versus a revenge-minded Red Wings team.

With the Wild up by two, Detroit got a pair of quick goals in the middle period, then Edvinsson’s seeing-eye shot through traffic was the eventual game-winner in Detroit’s 3-2 victory. After Minnesota had won on the Red Wings’ home rink on Saturday, the teams split their season series.

Marco Rossi and Jakub Lauko scored first-period goals for Minnesota, which has been a .500 team at Xcel Energy Center this season while sporting the NHL’s best road record. The Wild had won two in a row at home prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off break, but fell to 13-13-1 at home with their latest loss.

The Wild got 13 saves from Filip Gustavsson, as he fell to 22-13-3 as the goalie of record this season.

For the Red Wings, they mounted a furious comeback after falling behind. Goalie Cam Talbot had 22 saves for Detroit, which has been one of the Eastern Conference’s hottest teams following a midseason coaching change. They are making a push for their first playoff appearance since 2016.

Minnesota saw its three-game winning streak snapped.

After winning despite playing from behind in their final game before the 4 Nations break, and in their first game back in action on Saturday, the Wild took a different approach on Tuesday, jumping out to a 2-0 lead via strong special teams and opportunistic offense.

Detroit missed a golden opportunity to take the crowd out of the game early when Marco Kasper clanked the right goalpost behind Gustavsson, and the Wings had an early lead in shots. Then they took a penalty for delay of game, and the Wild pounced.

On the ensuing man advantage, Matt Boldy got a long shot through to Talbot, who made a pad save but couldn’t control the rebound. Rossi, posted just outside the crease, got two whacks at the puck and slid the second one over the line, extending his goal-scoring streak to three games.

In the opposite crease, Gustavsson had a stellar first period with 10 saves, including two on point-blank attempts.

Minnesota came within inches of extending its lead on a power play early in the second, but Talbot denied Vinnie Hinostroza on the doorstep.

And then in what seemed like the blink of an eye, although in reality it took three minutes, Detroit tied the game on goals by Vladimir Tarasenko and Edvinsson. The latter came via a bomb of a slap shot from the blue line that fooled Gustavsson.

Lauko, who has had an injury-plagued season and was back in the lineup after missing the previous three games, doubled the lead with a soft shot that slipped between Talbot’s skates. It was the third goal of the season for Lauko, who has missed 24 games due to injury.

One leftover from the first game of this two-game home-and-home series versus the Red Wings was Detroit announcing that center Andrew Copp was out for the season, and likely to miss four to six months after having surgery to repair a torn pectoral tendon.

Late in the second period of the Wild’s 4-3 overtime win at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, Wild defenseman Brock Faber was dropped by a hard but clean check from Wings forward Alex DeBrincat, which touched off a scuffle. Copp came in hard and delivered a forearm to the head of Boldy, injuring himself in the process.

The Wild will close out February with a trip to the mountains, facing Utah on Thursday and Colorado on Friday in back-to-back road games.

Detroit Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot (39) blocks a shot during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) and defenseman Brock Faber (7) defend against a shot by Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stops a shot by Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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Gophers versus Northwestern on Tuesday essentially served as a play-in game for the Big Ten Conference men’s basketball tournament.

With only three regular-season games left, Minnesota needed to beat the Wildcats and help avoid finishing in the bottom three teams, which will be excluded from the conference tourney in mid-March.

The Gophers weren’t desperate enough in their most-winnable game down the stretch and lost 75-63 at Williams Arena.

The Gophers (14-14, 6-11 Big Ten) fell to 2-7 in Big Ten home games this season and will be underdogs against Nebraska, Wisconsin and likely at Rutgers to end the regular season.

A week ago, Minnesota was coming off wins over Southern California and UCLA. With how condensed the standings were, it looked possible for the U to not only make the 15-team tournament field but possible get a bye. Then they lost to last-place Penn State and the Wildcats.

Northwestern (15-13, 6-11) is going in the opposite direction, with two wins in a row, including a 70-49 beatdown of Ohio State on Thursday.

Northwestern is a heavy screening team, and Minnesota didn’t fight enough to go through and around the picks in the first half. The second half started the same way.

On the first defensive possession, Lu’Cye Patterson didn’t make it through two screens, giving Jordan Clayton space to knock down a 3-pointer.

The Wildcats’ best player, Nick Martinelli, extended his lead over Dawson Garcia in a battle (with others) for the Big Ten scoring title.

Martinelli, who is putting up 19.7 per contest, finished with 29 points. The junior forward had two 3-point plays to help keep the lead in the double digits midway though the second half.

Garcia, who is averaging 19.4 per game, put up 26 on 3 of 7 shooting behind the arc. His teammates were a combined 2 for 11 from deep.

The Wildcats have also overcome serious injuries, with two key players being lost to season-ending injuries in the past three weeks: second-leading scorer Brooks Barnhizer (knee) and third-leading scorer Jalen Leach (knee).

The Gophers’ start on Tuesday was ugly, with three turnovers in their opening four possessions. Northwestern capitalized with a 10-0 burst in the first two-plus minutes.

Minnesota used an 8-0 run to help eventually tie the game 21-21. Garcia hit two 3-pointers to bring the U back.

But it was Northwestern’s 3-point shooting — three more makes than the U in the opening 20 minutes, contributing to a 36-31 halftime lead.

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In no uncertain terms, the White House has called out St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and other city leaders in St. Paul, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles for immigrant-friendly policies that the president claims protect “killers, rapists and drug dealers.”

The written warning of sorts from the Trump administration goes beyond political posturing. It comes a day after new leadership at the U.S. Small Business Administration issued a “Day One” memo shuttering SBA regional offices in so-called “Sanctuary Cities” and moving them to “communities that comply with federal immigration law,” as reported by the Denver Post.

Carter on Tuesday responded with equally pointed commentary of his own, noting in a written statement that St. Paul police officers solve murder investigations at twice the national rate and have cut violent crime by double digits.

“If the President wants real solutions to avoid a repeat of the record homicide surge America suffered during his first term, we’re happy to help,” the mayor said.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson last month called the White House’s performance overseeing the country “raggedy” and said if anyone questioned what the U.S. would look like had the Confederacy won, “there should be no question now. They want us to be afraid. Do not be afraid, Chicago.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and other legal minds around the country have noted the U.S. Constitution prevents the federal government from demanding that states enforce federal laws, including federal immigration enforcement.

The White House on Tuesday responded by putting St. Paul at the top of a list of five locales that would allow “vicious criminals … to roam our streets.” The list noted that Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently arrested a Sudanese national, a Mexican national and a Laotian national convicted of criminal sexual conduct against minors.

“Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison warns law enforcement of ‘liability if they enforce immigration detainers’ and says protecting communities from violent illegal immigrant criminals is ‘not our job,’” reads the White House statement. “Mayor Melvin Carter says targeting violent illegal immigrant criminals is ‘threaten[ing] our safe spaces’ and calls it a ‘rapidly alarming situation.’ St. Paul City Council Vice President Hwa Jeong Kim reminds constituents that the police department ‘cannot and does not cooperate with ICE.’”

Also listed by name in the White House statement were U.S. representatives from New York and Chicago, the mayor of Los Angeles and the attorney general of Washington state.

The White House’s claims gloss over some nuances. Even so-called “sanctuary cities” that have made it their policy not to share information with ICE tend to make exceptions for wanted violent criminals and others formally charged with serious crimes such as child molestation.

Carter said last month that while city employees are not allowed to ask residents about immigration status as they distribute city services and conduct city business, “if someone who is a citizen commits a crime in our city, we stop at nothing to hold them accountable. That doesn’t change as a result of citizenship status, either.”

In early February, Ellison — a frequent critic of the Trump administration on legal grounds — issued an eight-page legal opinion that found Minnesota county jails cannot legally hold detainees for ICE past their sentences without a criminal warrant. Ellison noted most immigration detainers issued by ICE are civil requests, not criminal warrants, leaving counties open to lawsuits if they indefinitely detain someone who has already served their criminal sentence and is not wanted on fresh charges.

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One of Pa Chia Vang’s hit-and-run victims walked with a cane to the witness stand, where she said her life will never be the same — physically, mentally and financially — because of what Vang did to her and her sister-in-law last May in St. Paul.

The woman, who is 52, is not able to perform everyday tasks or drive due to double vision.

“I can’t even pick up my grandchild, who is about 20 pounds, just to hug her,” she said in a Ramsey County courtroom on Tuesday at Vang’s sentencing.

Pa Chia Vang (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

The other victim, who is 48, was near the courtroom’s swinging door in a wheelchair. Her daughter delivered her victim impact statement in which she said “the chance to live a long, healthy and fulfilling life was stolen from me by someone who chose to run instead of taking responsibility.”

Vang, 45, occasionally wiped away tears.

Ramsey County District Judge Edward Sheu went on to give her 30 days in the workhouse — the most he could under a December plea agreement — and five years of probation for hitting the two women with her SUV as they crossed Idaho Avenue near White Bear Avenue shortly before midnight May 4, and then leaving the scene.

Vang wasn’t identified as a suspect until after police received an anonymous tip in the case a month later. She was charged July 11 by warrant and arrested the next day.

Vang had spent more than two hours at a bar and restaurant near the hit-and-run scene. When she pleaded guilty in December to criminal vehicular operation that caused substantial bodily harm and leaving the scene, she also said she had been drinking before the crash, according to Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Nelson Rhodus.

“But that wasn’t part of the elements of the offense, because we couldn’t prove that,” he said. “She had fled the scene already. So it was charged out as just a hit-and-run.”

Driver left scene while victims were ‘fighting for our lives’

When officers arrived at the scene, they found the 52-year-old victim lying on the ground near the parking lot of Exquisite Cake Bakery. She had a puddle of blood behind her head and St. Paul fire medics took her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with fractured pelvic bones and spinal fractures.

“The driver left the scene with no regard for human life, while we were laying on the ground fighting for our lives,” she told the court Tuesday.

Medics brought the second victim to the hospital in critical condition. Her injuries included a skull fracture, a traumatic brain injury, fractured ribs and spinal injuries.

The criminal complaint says officers spoke to a witness who reported a sport-utility vehicle sped west on Idaho Avenue when the two women were crossing the street. The SUV struck both women and continued north on White Bear Avenue.

Surveillance video from the area showed the driver of the SUV appeared to brake upon impact and then the vehicle swerved before continuing on.

Officers also found two car parts that appeared to be left behind from the SUV. They were identified as coming from a BMW X5 that was made between 2000 and 2006.

Police had asked for tips in the case on June 5, while releasing a photo of the female suspect from White Dragon Hall and saying she drove a dark-colored vehicle.

An anonymous tip led to police identifying Vang as a suspect. The tipster reported that a woman who lived on Bradley Street near Arlington Avenue drove a black BMW SUV that may have been involved. On June 6, officers found a 2005 BMW X5 — with damage to its front end — parked on Bradley Street in front of Pa Chia Vang’s home.

Vang’s husband was the vehicle’s registered owner and she had her identification scanned at the White Dragon, the complaint says.

Surveillance video showed that a person who appeared to be Vang went into White Dragon at 9:26 p.m. on May 5 and left at 11:52 p.m. She “stumbled” as she left and someone helped her continue walking, according to the complaint.

‘Remorse is very real’

The plea agreement included a 30-day jail cap, supervised probation and 100 hours of community service. If Vang follows conditions of probation, her conviction will become a misdemeanor. It also included completing a chemical dependency evaluation, writing apology letters to the victims and attending a Mothers Against Drunk Driving impact panel, all things Vang did before Tuesday.

A second, lesser charge of criminal vehicular operation — causing great bodily harm and leaving the scene — was dismissed.

Prosecutor Rhodus told the court that he believes state sentencing guidelines are “quite light” for the offense when considering the harm typically caused is “so severe and has such a tremendous impact on the lives of those who are involved.” He asked Judge Sheu to give Vang the full 30 days.

Vang’s attorney, Jack Rice, said she has taken responsibility and her “remorse is very real.”

“I know that the court has read those apology letters that she wrote,” Rice told the court. “She truly meant it.”

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Rice proposed three 10-day sentences, with the time served during the anniversaries of the crash. Sheu opted for Vang to serve the sentence at one time, beginning March 7.

Vang, who declined to address the court, must also pay a total of $151,476.78 in restitution to the two victims.

Sheu said he agrees with Rhodus that the “law in this area is actually kind of lenient, as you can see from the harm and damage caused.”

“I really feel the impact from the victims here,” he added. “They will face architectural barriers, among other things forever, possibly, which is tremendously hard to watch and understand. So I hope you don’t drink ever again, and can make it right financially with the victims.”