In Vegas, they like to remind you that the house always wins. But sometimes, everything seems to fall in the favor of those with the fortitude to play the odds in a big way.

The Minnesota Wild took a notable gamble in trading for star defenseman Quinn Hughes earlier in the month, and that bet has hit big so far. On Monday night in Sin City, Minnesota improved to 6-1-1 with Hughes on the roster, blasting past the Golden Knights 5-2 as their seven-game road trip rolled along.

Wild coach John Hynes had juggled three of the team’s four lines earlier in the day. The one line that he left intact — Joel Eriksson Ek centering Marcus Johansson and Matt Boldy — led the way for the Wild.

“I thought the three of them really played solid,” Hynes said. “I thought they were all skating and moving, working as a three-man unit. Puck execution was really good. Zone play was structured and they executed really well and got to the net and scored some goals.”

Johansson tied a career high for points in a game with a goal and three assists as seemingly everyone in a white sweater got in on the offensive parade. In the other end of T-Mobile Arena, Filip Gustavsson had 14 saves, improving to 6-0-1 in his last seven starts.

“You love when the team plays like this and you can just have fun out there,” Gustavsson said. “They were blocking shots and winning faceoffs and killing a good amount of (penalties) now.”

Like hitting blackjack on your first hand, the Wild needed just 26 seconds to take the lead, when Johansson blasted a shot past Vegas goalie Carter Hart on the glove side.

Already missing five regulars due to injury, the Golden Knights lineup got a little thinner early in the game when center Tomas Hertl ran Wild center Ryan Hartman into the boards. While Hartman went to the locker room to have a cut on his face tended to, Hertl was assessed a five-minute major penalty and ejected. The Wild got two quality scoring chances but did not score on the extended power play.

Hartman returned later in the game.

Matt Boldy #12 of the Minnesota Wild scores a goal against Carter Hart #79 of the Vegas Golden Knights in the first period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on December 29, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Minnesota finally doubled the lead late in the first when Johansson poked a puck out of the defensive zone to start a 2-on-1 rush. Eriksson Ek passed cross-ice, through the legs of a Vegas defender, to Boldy who chipped the puck home for a 2-0 lead. It was Boldy’s team-leading 25th goal.

Johansson said the success of his line with Eriksson Ek and Boldy is important, but the team success is more vital.

“The team success, it makes it easier for everyone. I feel like when the team has success, everyone else has has success around it,” said Johansson, whose only other four-point game came against the Wild when he played for Washington. “The way we’ve been playing lately and work for each other and everyone’s buying in, I think it makes it easier for everyone.”

When the second period began, things went seriously sideways for the Knights, quickly. Jared Spurgeon made it 3-0 just 26 seconds into the middle frame. Vegas challenged the play, unsuccessfully, giving the Wild a power play.

They did not score then, but added two more goals before seven minutes had elapsed in the second. Hart was mercifully yanked after allowing five goals on a dozen shots. Brock Faber and Eriksson Ek added second period goals for the Wild.

Vegas ruined Gustavsson’s bid for a shutout by pouncing on a few sloppy defensive moments late in the second and early in the third. Akira Schmid, who came on in relief of Hart, had 15 saves for the Golden Knights, who have now lost six of their last seven, but still lead the Pacific Division.

The Wild close out 2025 with their lone visit to San Jose this season, looking to salvage a game in their season series with the Sharks. San Jose won a pair of overtime games in St. Paul early in the season. The Wednesday afternoon game at the Sharks’ rink faces off at 3 p.m. CT.

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Far from a masterpiece, the Gophers men’s basketball team prepared for the resumption of Big Ten play by pulling away from Fairleigh Dickinson in the second half of a 60-43 win Monday night.

Bobby Durkin scored a season-high 19 points and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson added 17 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota, now 8-0 at Williams Arena.

Playing for the first time in eight days, the Gophers outscored the Knights 19-1 in the opening 11 minutes of the second half to blow the game open.

“One of those frustrating games, but we found a way to get the job done,” said coach Niko Medved, whose team missed “a lot of great looks” and shot 38.6%, but had 20 assists on 22 baskets.  The Gophers lead the nation in assist percentage at 74.6%.

“You just don’t make excuses. But really this group has been getting better, and we’ll respond and we’ll be ready to play at Northwestern,” Medved said.

That would be at 4 p.m. Saturday when Big Ten play resumes. Minnesota (8-5, 1-1 Big Ten) upset Indiana 73-64 in overtime Dec. 3 and were routed 85-57 Dec. 10 at fifth-ranked Purdue.

“Every night you’re not going to have your A game,” Medved said. “These guys know what conference play is, so we got to just keep doing the things I think that we’ve been doing to improve individually and as a team. I mean it’s on now playing the best league in the country.”

Since that Boilermaker blowout, Minnesota beat Texas Southern 89-53 Dec. 14 and Campbell 78-50 Dec. 21.

On paper, Monday’s matchup should have been a similar one-sided affair. In the latest KenPom rankings that are based on advanced analytics and metrics, Fairleigh Dickinson (3-10) is ranked 358th of 365 Division I men’s basketball programs.

Yet Minnesota, a 23.5-point favorite, struggled to find early offensive consistency against pressure and consistent fundamentals on defense, and led just 32-29 at the half.

“We just didn’t come ready to play. Coach chewed us out. We definitely had to respond, especially through adversity with people in foul trouble. We definitely responded and took care of business,” Crocker-Johnson said.

Durkin hit a triple after Langston Reynolds intercepted a pass in the paint, an offensive rebound led to a 3-point play for Crocker-Johnson, and another Durkin 3-pointer made it 41-29 five minutes into the second half.

Treys from Crocker-Johnson and Kai Shinholster made it 51-30 midway through the second half.

Making his fifth straight start, Durkin is quickly developing into a key forward for the Gophers. He is averaging 11.8 points, four rebounds and 2.1 assists in that span.

“I think just that, as you continue to get further into the season, just my confidence and comfortability with everything has helped a lot,” he said.

Fairleigh Dickinson missed its first 10 shots of the second half and committed six turnovers.

Minnesota’s domination occurred with top scorer Cade Tyson on the bench after picking up his fourth foul early in the second half. Entering tops in the Big Ten and fourth nationally in scoring at 22.8 points per game, Tyson finished with 12.

“I think it just shows that we have a lot of guys that can impact winning. Think we all do it in different ways,” Durkin said. “… I think everyone knew that we need to kind of pick it up overall as a team.”

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CHICAGO — Naz Reid scored a season-high 33 points off the bench, Anthony Edwards added 23, and the Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Bulls 136-101 on Monday night after Chicago lost top scorers Coby White and Josh Giddey to injuries.

Julius Randle had 17 points as Minnesota pulled away in the third quarter in the opener of a four-game trip. Donte DiVincenzo and Bones Hyland scored 12 each as Minnesota shot 53.7% after a cold start.

Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 23 points, but the depleted Bulls but the depleted Bulls couldn’t keep pace and lost a second straight following a five-game winning streak that had lifted them back to .500. Chicago shot just 40.9%, and committed 16 turnovers compared to three by Minnesota.

Julius Randle #30 of the Minnesota Timberwolves drives to the basket against Ayo Dosunmu #11 of the Chicago Bulls during the second half at the United Center on December 29, 2025 in Chicago, Ill. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

White, Chicago’s leading scorer, exited with a right calf strain in the first quarter.

Giddey, Chicago’s second-leading scorer, walked off the court gingerly with an apparent left hamstring injury in the first minute of the second half after scoring 11 points.

White, who entered averaging 20.5 points, missed the first 11 games this season with similar calf injury. Giddey entered averaging 19.5 points, 9.2 assists and 9.1 rebounds. He is second in the NBA with seven triple-doubles.

Before the game, Bulls coach Billy Donovan said Zach Collins will probably miss several games with a sprained right big toe.

Minnesota’s Mike Conley played in his 1,200th game.

The Timberwolves took charge in the third quarter after the Bulls tied it at 55 in the opening minute of the period. Minnesota outscored Chicago 40-28 in the frame and took a 95-78 lead into the fourth.

The visitors led 55-50 at the half after trailing by as much as nine midway through the second quarter. Edwards led the comeback, scoring his first 11 points consecutively on three 3’s and a pair of free throws.

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The United States rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat Slovakia 6-5 in a World Junior Championships Group A game at Grand Casino Arena Monday night and improve to 3-0 in preliminary round play.

Despite surrendering the contest’s first two goals during the opening period, the Americans rallied for a 4-4 tie after two stanzas, then took a 6-4 lead before Slovakia’s final goal with two minutes remaining.

“Crazy game but give our guys credit,” said U.S. coach Bob Motzko, whose team played without top defender Cole Hutson, injured two days earlier, and veteran forward Max Plante, hurt Monday. Motzko noted that Hutson remains day-to-day, while there was no update on Plante’s injury.

United States goalie Caleb Heil (30), right, celebrates with teammates after an IIHF World Junior Hockey championship game against Slovakia, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

James Hagens had two goals; Will Zellers had his third winning goal in as many games and added an assist. A.J. Spellacy and Brendan McMorrow each had a goal and an assist and Ryker Lee also tallied. Goaltender Caleb Heil made 14 saves.

The game featured shots off the post, a slew of missed breakaways, angry scrums and the type of skilled, wide-open hockey that had an announced crowd of 13,984 groaning, cheering, booing and applauding through the night.

“That’s a good team over there but we knew we were better,” Zellers said. “We gave them good, early chances off turnovers and some unlucky penalties. We had to stick with our plan.”

A crucial, early sequence during a bonkers second period occurred with the U.S. shorthanded and staring at the possibility of trailing by three goals fewer than two minutes after the first intermission.

Thirty seconds later, McMorrow sprinted onto a loose puck near his team’s blue line, then whipped a pass from the left side to the Slovakians’ far post, where a lunging Spellacy tipped it inside the iron. Asked what makes McMorrow such a stellar penalty killer, Motzko was succinct.

“Speed, tenacity,” the coach said. “He knows his job. Think of what (the situation) would have been if we’d gone down, 3-0.”

Said Zellers: “We knew the crowd was ready to pop, so when we got that first one it was electric. We knew we had the momentum back. It’s so much fun to play those close, back-and-forth games.”

Although the U.S. trailed 3-1 after also surrendering a shorthanded goal five minutes later, they used the momentum generated by their first tally to knot the score at 3-3 on goals by McMorrow and Lee.

Slovakia moved ahead at 4-3 on a power-play goal five minutes before the second intermission. That lead did not last, as Hagans created another deadlock just 44 seconds before the break, scoring from between the circles to forge a 4-4 tie after two stanzas of play.

“That was huge,” Motzko said. “We said after the first (period) that if we could score next, we’d get the crowd going and get some life in the building,” Motzko said.

United States forward James Hagens (10) celebrates after scoring a goal during the third period of an IIHF World Junior Hockey championship game against Slovakia, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

There was plenty of life in Grand Casino Arena as Hagens gave the U.S. its first lead of the game just 18 seconds into the third period, scoring as he slid towards the left post after a shot from the blue line caromed off traffic in front of Slovakia goalie Michal Pradel.

“Coach told us after the second period to take a deep breath, we’re right in this game and we’re going to be in a lot of these situations going further,” said Hagens, a Boston College student and Boston Bruins draft pick. “Be comfortable and make the next play, don’t try to do anything out of the ordinary.”

Zellers added an insurance goal with 15 minutes remaining. Tic-tac-toe passing resulted in a cross-crease feed that went in off Zellers’ skate, but a review revealed no distinct kicking motion to disqualify it. The tally put the U.S. up 6-4. It also proved crucial as Slovakia managed the game’s 11th goal that brought the score to it’s eventual final count of 6-5.

Motzko said he obviously didn’t enjoy the Americans giving up five goals, but that run-and-gun hockey sometimes occurs.

“I don’t like it but you have to bury it and move on,” he said. “I think we’ve scored our way out of a couple of games and that’s a little concerning for me.”

The U.S. moves on to face Sweden, another undefeated team, on New Year’s Eve in the countries’ final game before the knockout round begins with Friday quarterfinals. The semifinals are Sunday and the championship and third-place games are a day later.

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