Because the Wild play in Minnesota, and there is apparently a clause in the state constitution that says local sports teams aren’t ever allowed to do things the easy way, the local hockey club chose drama instead.

Needing just one standings point to make the playoffs for the first time under head coach John Hynes, the Wild got the job done in the most nailbiting, teeth-clenching way possible on Tuesday night in their regular season finale.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored an extra attacker goal with 20.9 seconds left in regulation to give Minnesota the one standings point needed. Matt Boldy scored in overtime for a 3-2 Wild win.

“It took some competitive stamina for us to be able to get it, obviously with the 82nd game and 20 seconds left in the game. But I think it was good. I’m really happy for the guys,” Hynes said. “We battled hard throughout the year. Another hard-fought game tonight and found a way to win it, and now we’ve got a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup.”

Filip Gustavsson had 22 saves for Minnesota, which pressured the Anaheim net all night but could only get two of its 37 shots in regulation past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal. After starting the season red-hot, the Wild saw their once-secure playoff chances get more and more unstable over the course of the past month, as the impact of a season-long rash of injuries took its toll.

But with their postseason berth secured, Gustavsson offered to give up the net. So Hynes put Marc-Andre Fleury in goal for the overtime, to thunderous applause from the fans. The future hall of famer is retiring at season’s end.

“Very surprised. I’d been sitting there for a few hours. But it was good from Gus and Hynesy to let me go in,” said Fleury, who had his family and a childhood friend in attendance. “I’m happy I got to play just a little bit more at home.”

Fleury had five saves in the extra session, which included killing a penalty. The end result was his NHL record 71st overtime win, which led to a thunderous standing ovation and chants of his name from the fans as Fleury left the ice.

The Wild will open the playoffs on the road, likely Sunday, at Las Vegas.

Unlike recent games where they have started slow and played from behind, the Wild were the aggressors right from the start, with the large crowd gasping when Boldy – redirecting a Kirill Kaprizov shot – and then Marcus Foligno put pucks off the goalpost on consecutive shifts.

Minnesota broke through before the opening period was half over, when a Mats Zuccarello pass found Johansson behind the Anaheim defense, and his flip shot beat the goalie low on the stick side.

But Anaheim would pull even before the period was over, as a bouncing puck headed for the crease eluded defenseman Jake Middleton’s attempts to corral it, then slid beneath Gustavsson’s right leg pad.

Back-to-back penalties on the Ducks late in the first and early in the second gave Minnesota four minutes of man advantage where they threatened and tested Dostal’s glove, but did not score. Minnesota outshot Anaheim 11-3 in the period with nothing to show for all of the effort.

Things got more complicated for the Wild near the midway point of the third when the Ducks got a 2-on-1 rush to the net and took their first lead when Colangelo tucked a shot between Gustavsson’s knees.

Hynes called a timeout late and had Gustavsson on the bench when Eriksson Ek popped in a rebound, putting the crowd into delirium and the Wild back in the playoffs.

“We played well. That wasn’t our fate, I don’t think. I think our fate was winning the game like we did,” Middleton said. “Maybe it was fate to go to overtime and get Flower in the way we did, too. What an all-class move by Gus there.”

For Hynes, it was reinforcement of the mental toughness he has been preaching all season.

“Yeah, it’s something that we’ve talked about all year, even coming into the year, being able to win high-stakes games and understanding not getting too high or too low but really being able to stay focused on the task that’s in front of us, whatever that might be,” he said. “Guys did a good job, and when it mattered the most, we had it.”

While the Wild elected to delay newly-signed defenseman Zeev Buium’s NHL debut, Anaheim signed Western Michigan captain Tim Wasche after he helped the Broncos win their first NCAA title last Saturday. Wasche made his NHL debut on Tuesday, centering the Ducks’ fourth line.

In addition to Buium, defenseman Declan Chisholm and forward Vinnie Hinostroza were healthy scratches for Minnesota.

The wife of a Republican state lawmaker cruised to victory Tuesday night in a special primary election in Minnesota’s 6th Senate District, where the seat was vacated after the arrest and resignation of GOP Sen. Justin Eichorn.

In the eight-candidate Republican field, Keri Heintzeman won about 47% of the vote. Retired Grand Rapids veterinarian John Howe was in second place with about 15% of the vote. Former state Republican Party chair and current Nisswa Mayor Jennifer Carnahan was in third place with about 11% of the vote.

Other Republican candidates were Steve Cotariu, a Merrifield veteran and businessman; Josh Gazelka, a Brainerd resident who is the son of former state Sen. Paul Gazelka; Doug Kern, a Brainerd business owner; and Angel Zierden, a former Breezy Point mayor.

Heintzeman’s husband, Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa, represents House District 6B.

In the DFL primary, Denise Slipy, an environmental health and safety professional from Breezy Point, ran unopposed.

Slipy will face Keri Heintzeman in the April 29 special election. The outcome won’t affect the balance of power in the Senate, where Democrats currently have a two-vote majority. District 6, which stretches from Brainerd and Baxter north to Grand Rapids, has shifted Republican but Democrats hope political winds might be shifting.

Eichorn resigned last month after he was charged with attempting to solicit a minor in what turned out to be an underage sex sting operation in Bloomington.

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It would have been bad enough for the Twins on Tuesday if they had just lost Matt Wallner.

The right fielder, who has been among their most productive players this season, started limping after legging out an infield single in the first inning. He walked off the field alongside head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta and manager Rocco Baldelli.

But with the way things are going this season for the Twins, things managed to get even worse. In the fifth inning, after fouling off a pitch, Carlos Correa did not even attempt a practice swing, coming out of the game mid at-bat.

Wallner, the Twins say, left the game with left hamstring tightness. Correa left with left wrist soreness.

The Twins won the game, beating the New York Mets 6-3 at Target Field, a badly-needed jolt on a day when the injury news was less than ideal. But if Wallner and Correa are lost for an extended period of time, the Twins’ task — climbing out of a deep hole they’ve dug for themselves — just got a lot harder.

Tuesday, a night after collecting just three hits, the Twins had 13 and provided plenty of offense in support of starter Bailey Ober. The Twins scored two runs in the third and then a run in each of the next four innings as they put some distance between themselves and the Mets.

Ryan Jeffers, who just missed a two-run home run in the fourth inning, finished the day with three hits, including a pair of doubles. Harrison Bader added three hits of his own, and Byron Buxton had two, also scoring a pair of runs.

Ober did his part, as well, working into the seventh inning after allowing two solo home runs — one to Pete Alonso, another to Juan Soto. He left with a pair of runners on in the seventh, one of which scored before Cole Sands extracted the Twins from the jam.

While the Twins did a good job tacking on runs, the Mets were still within striking distance, bringing the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning before Jhoan Duran got Mets star Francisco Lindor to strike out swinging to end the game.

Harrison Bader #12 of the Minnesota Twins steals second base against Luisangel Acuña #2 of the New York Mets in the third inning at Target Field on April 15, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck initially smiled when asked about what he anticipates when the NCAA transfer portal reopens Wednesday.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Fleck said after the U’s 12th spring practice at Athletics Village on Tuesday. “I really like this football team — it just dictates what happens over the next the next however many days.

“We are going to focus on the players that want to be Gophers, focus on guys who are truly invested in the Gopher family, in what we do and how we do it,” Fleck added. “Everybody’s got their own rhyme or reason and, respectfully so, to stay or leave. We support everybody in what they do. It’s just part of our new world.”

Fleck added he doesn’t anticipate a “plethora of things we are going to do — if (the roster) stayed the same” after the portal closes April 25. Some players are bound to leave if the U needs to get under the 105-player roster limit that is expected to come with the House settlement.

One scholarship player, freshman linebacker David Amaliri, said Tuesday he is transferring out. The 6-foot-4 and 210-pounder from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was a member of the 2024 recruiting class; he did not play in a game last fall and redshirted.

After finishing his high school career at Clearwater (Fla.) Academy International, he has four years of eligibility remaining.

“I am forever grateful for my time at Minnesota,” Amaliri wrote on social media, thanking head coach P.J. Fleck, assistant coaches and teammates.

One of the biggest names to enter the portal so far is California running back Jaydn Ott, who rushed for 1,315 yards in 2023 (14th-most in the nation) and then 385 last season. He is headed to Oklahoma.

The U travels to Berkeley, Calif., to play the Golden Bears on Sept. 13.

Curious about quarterbacks

For a second straight open-to-reporters practice, redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey took the majority of the first team reps at quarterback. He was followed by walk-on Max Shikenjanski and then Dylan Wittke.

Georgia Tech transfer Zach Pyron was conspicuously further down the pecking order. He didn’t appear in team reps until the very end of Tuesday’s practice, but had success with touchdown passes to Kenric Lanier and Cristian Driver.

Similar to last Tuesday, Fleck said: “We are rotating a lot of the quarterbacks. Don’t read into who’s getting reps when because you will be in a circle and it doesn’t necessarily matter.”

Bowden improving

Cornerback Jaylen Bowden has needed some time to adjust in spring practices after making the jump from FCS-level North Carolina Central. But he appears to be acclimating.

“More than any other week, I think this week he took a giant leap,” Fleck said. “… I think Mike Gerald took a giant leap. Za’Quan (Bryan) has been out with a minor injury. He should be back in the next day or so, but it’s allowed some of the guys who haven’t had a ton of reps to get those reps. Ryland Kelly is working.”

Gerald, a redshirt freshman from Houston, benefitted from a pass-breakup from Emmanuel Karmo to intercept a pass and return it for a touchdown on Tuesday.

Briefly

Defensive end Jaxon Howard was the most notable absence from Tuesday’s practice. … The U welcomed fans for Tuesday’s practice and hundreds watched from the sidelines of the indoor practice facility. “On a Tuesday, it’s kind of crazy that many people come out,” said guard Greg Johnson of Prior Lake.  … The Gophers hosted a handful of recruits on Tuesday, including Jayden McGregory, a top player in Iowa in the 2026 class. The four-star recruit has more than 15 offers from Power Four programs. … Minnesota has three more spring practices, but will not hold a spring game again this year.

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