A simple, clean four-letter word has defined the Minnesota Wild all season, from the highs of a hot start, to the lows of a mess of midseason injuries, to the euphoria of finding a last-minute route to the playoffs, to the ups and downs of Round 1 versus Vegas.

Hard.

So, with the season literally on the line, and the Wild facing a “win or put away the blades for a few months” Game 6 versus the Golden Knights at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, it was no surprise to hear coach John Hynes reiterating the innate difficulty — for both teams — of an elimination game.

“It’s hard to win,” Hynes said, meeting with reporters at TRIA Rink during his team’s optional morning skate at home. But he went on to clarify that the “hard” concept is applicable to everything, not just the happenings on a 200 foot-by-85 foot ice sheet.

“Whatever you choose, it’s not easy,” he said. “It’s hard to be in shape. It’s hard to be out of shape. It’s hard to win. It’s hard to lose. If you lose, there’s not a lot of fun that happens with that. But if you win, it’s hard to win, so you’ve got to be able to choose what you want to do.”

With Hynes noting that he does not feel momentum is a factor, despite Vegas winning the previous two games in overtime and grabbing the series lead Minnesota once held, he instead focused Thursday morning on the fact that the Wild have been playing desperate, backs-against-the-wall hockey for the past month or so. Just getting into the playoffs was hard, so the hard they prepped for on Thursday in Game 6 was, in a way, more of the same.

“Like at the end of the regular season for us, you’re going to come in and you’ve got to beat Vancouver,” Hynes recalled. “After you beat Vancouver, then you’ve got to beat Anaheim. Just because you beat Vancouver, the job’s not done.”

It’s the same in the other locker room, the coach said, where Vegas still needed a win in one of the final two games of the series to advance, which is the expectation every year of a fanbase that has never really known hard times since the franchise was born less than a decade ago.

Vegas went into Game 6 facing some of the same manpower challenges that bedeviled Minnesota much of the season, with the Golden Knights’ leading goal scorer Pavel Dorofeyev scratched from the Thursday night lineup after an injury (classified as day to day by Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy) that kept him off the ice for the end of regulation and the overtime in Game 5.

So with a series lead, the Knights went into Game 6 needing to find a way to close out Minnesota without a key player, which sounded like a hard task. In keeping with his season-long mantra, maybe that was just the way the Wild’s coach envisioned things playing out.

Okposo named to NHLPA staff

After closing out the on-ice portion of his hockey career with a Stanley Cup title a year ago, St. Paul native Kyle Okposo will be working to make life better for NHL players in his next chapter.

On Thursday, the NHL Players Association named Okposo, 37, as an advisor in business development and player engagement. After parts of two seasons with the Minnesota Gophers, Okposo went on to play more than 1,000 NHL games over a 17-season career. The bulk of his time was spent with the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, but Okposo was traded to Florida late last season and played 17 games in the Panthers’ run to their first NHL title.

“I’m thrilled to join the NHLPA at this time of growth opportunities for the players,” said Okposo, in a statement. “I was involved with the PA over the course of my career, and I have seen first-hand the staff’s work on behalf of players. I am excited to add my perspective and experience to that work and further expand opportunities for NHLPA members.”

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A Minnesota State Patrol trooper has been charged with production of child pornography, the state’s U.S. Attorney Office’s announced Thursday.

Jeremy Francis Plonski, 29, was arrested on a federal warrant after being charged with one count.

Jeremy Francis Plonski (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office has zero tolerance for public officials who violate federal laws — particularly those laws that protect vulnerable children from sexual abuse,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Lisa Kirkpatrick in a statement. “… While donning his uniform, Plonski committed one of the most vile and predatory offenses imaginable.”

Court documents weren’t publicly available Thursday and it wasn’t immediately clear whether the alleged offense happened while Plonski was on or off-duty, or whether he has an attorney.

Plonski became a state trooper in 2022 and is on leave, with an internal affairs investigation underway.

“The allegations in this case are appalling and indefensible,” said State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic in a statement. “… No badge, no title and no position will ever place anyone above the law. Protecting the vulnerable is our duty. Anyone who violates that duty has no place in this organization or in our profession.”

The FBI investigated, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office also thanked the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Shakopee police.

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CLEVELAND — Byron Buxton wasn’t sure what, exactly, he was being lauded for on Wednesday night when DaShawn Keirsey Jr. approached him to offer his congratulations.

“DK was like, ‘Congrats,” and I was like, ‘On what?’” Buxton said.

Soon after, he was informed that he had become just the third player in team history to record 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases with the Twins when he swiped second base in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game. Buxton, who has 139 career home runs, accomplished the first half of the feat during the the 2023 season.

“I’m blessed,” he said. “Obviously, to put this uniform on and be able to have the opportunity to do something like that is special.”

Buxton, who accomplished the feat in his 800th game as a Twin, joins pretty good company.

Only Kirby Puckett, who hit 207 home runs and stole 134 bases in his career and Torii Hunter have done the same. In 12 years with the Twins, Hunter hit 214 home runs and stole 128 bases. In his career, which lasted 19 years in total, he hit 353 with 195 stolen bases.

“I told some guys earlier, just being in a group with those top two center fielders that put on this uniform, that played the position that I’m playing … like I said, it’s special,” Buxton said. “It’s hard to put into words now.”

He’s also just the 26th active player to reach the 100 home run/100 steal milestone.

“There’s only so many guys that have the ability to contribute in those different ways,” manager Rocco Baldelli.  “It’s a great accomplishment, but he’s going to accomplish even further things related to this, related to his legs and his bat.”

All of Buxton’s steals, notably, have been of second base as Buxton, 31, has yet to steal third in a regular-season game. Though with his speed, he can score on a majority of hits that find the outfield grass.

In his career, Buxton has only been caught 12 times and his 89.3% stolen base percentage is the highest in MLB history among players who have 100 steals.

“He takes off well, he’s fast on the way and he knows what to do around the bag,” Baldelli said. “He has a really good feel for the times he should go and the times he probably shouldn’t go. Just having that baseball sense, and the awareness and instinct, it’s a big deal. It’s a big part of stealing bases and he has it.”

Though he’s maintained his elite speed, he has run less in recent years because of a number of injuries, including a knee issue that required two surgeries in consecutive offseasons.

Already, he’s matched the number of stolen bases (seven) that he stole in all of 2024, a sign that he’s feeling good physically.

“The way he’s moving has been … the best his body has been working and as explosive as he’s been, probably the best since ’19 or ’20,” Baldelli said. “The way we score runs and manufacture things and make things happen is just different when he’s able to run like that and move like that.”

Briefly

The Twins will head to Boston for a three-game series with the Red Sox beginning at 6:10 p.m. CT. Joe Ryan, who has a 3.18 ERA across six outings this season, is scheduled to start. … Royce Lewis, who is rehabbing from a hamstring injury, had a scheduled day off on Thursday after playing Tuesday and Wednesday for the Saints. Lewis has played in four rehab games thus far.

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In last week’s episode of “Survivor 48,” Eagan native Eva Erickson’s alliance of five physically strong castaways — her day-one ally Joe Hunter, stuntman David Kinne, debate professor Shauhin Davari and lawyer Kyle Fraser — seemed to fracture after they turned on one of their own and voted out Kinne.

Erickson, the show’s first openly autistic player, opened this week’s episode by consoling Kinne’s ally, substance abuse counselor Mary Zheng. Sort of, anyway.

“I’m really, really sorry,” she told Zheng. “I mean, I really, really like you and I like working with you.”

Erickson then explained she’d keep Zheng around as long as she can, but offered little hope beyond that: “I’m not gonna promise I’m not gonna write your name down, but I am gonna tell you if it is your name I’m gonna tell you beforehand.”

Grasping for straws, Zheng asked if Erickson would play her idol for her. The answer? Nope.

As Erickson explained to the camera: “I really like Mary and I don’t want to have bad blood between us. That’s why I’m being straightforward and telling the truth, but I’ve picked my people I want to work with and she’s not part of that. I have a strong four that I’m working with now, being myself, Joe, Shauhin and Kyle.

“We really hold a lot of power because I’ve built up an artillery of weapons to protect me and my allies. I have the hidden immunity idol, I have a safety without power (advantage). And with all that, we can get to that final four and everyone else can’t really do much about it.”

Much of the rest of the episode seemed to prove Erickson’s point. With eight players left in the game, and Erickson’s strong alliance of four, that left Zheng, physical education coach Mitch Guerra, software engineer Kamilla Karthigesu and sales expert Star Toomey to fend for themselves. Although they talked about various options, the four loose cannons never came to a firm agreement on what to do next.

During a rare standalone reward challenge, Fraser won an afternoon picnic of chicken and waffles on a nearby island. Host Jeff Probst allowed him to choose three people to join him and he went with Erickson, Karthigesu and Davari.

Erickson was once again thrilled to have the chance to eat, telling the camera: “Food changes everything. Without food, you’re so depleted you can barely stand up. I don’t think people at home realize that one meal actually does make all the difference.”

Also, Erickson explained that she had fun on the reward, but reiterated the strength of her alliance.

“Obviously I’m big fans of Kyle and Shauhin and Kamilla is so cool in her own right,” she said. “We’re just having a great time. And I don’t picture anyone trying to make a move on me or my core people. I feel unconcerned with the next few votes.”

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Hunter went on to win the immunity challenge and, with a fifth vote from Zheng, the alliance sent Toomey packing.

During tribal council, Probst asked the castaways various questions about the mood at camp. He turned to Erickson and said: “Was it paranoia (or) was it very calm, despite a big vote coming?”

Erickson’s answer yet again confirmed her alliance of four is looking like they will be the show’s final four.

“I think we knew what we were doing,” she said. “I think that everyone’s going to do what we had discussed, and there isn’t a bunch of crazy stuff going on. It’s just, we’re like, ‘Yep, next one’s going. Next one. Let’s keep this rolling.’ ”

“Survivor 48” airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+.