If in scouting the Wild for their Monday night game, the Vegas Golden Knights watched video of Minnesota’s overtime win in Winnipeg from Saturday, the effort might not have provided a true preview.

Heading into their first matchup in Nevada since an overtime loss in Game 5 during last spring’s playoffs, Wild coach John Hynes remade the Minnesota lines in search of some new results from new partners.

“I just think that a little bit of a switch-up. I think the last few games some lines have gone dry a little bit,” Hynes said. “We’ve played a lot of hockey.”

Notably, rookie Danila Yurov was elevated to center the team’s top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, and Ryan Hartman was sent to center the third line between Vinnie Hinostroza and Vladimir Tarasenko.

“I think Yurov back with Kaprizov and Zuccarello was a good combo,” Hynes told reporters after the team’s morning skate at T-Mobile Arena. “Before we had injuries, we thought that Vinnie bringing the speed that he has with Hartzy and Vladdy was a good line.”

Hynes envisioned his fourth line of Nico Sturm at center between Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin bringing some physical play when needed, with Trenin continuing to lead the NHL in hits.

Having survived their longest travel day of the season on Saturday, getting an unlikely win in Winnipeg when they trailed with less than 30 seconds left in regulation, the Wild were still feeling good about their cohesiveness leading to success.

“I think it just shows how great this group is,” Hinostroza said. “Ever since I got here in the middle of last year, you could see how much of a tight-knit group this is. It’s amazing to be a part of, and when you love each other like that and you play for each other, you usually get a good outcome.”

Hunt on the mend

Defenseman Daemon Hunt missed a sixth straight game in Vegas, still working his way back from a lower body injury suffered in the Wild’s shutout win over the Capitals on Dec. 16 in St. Paul.

While he is currently not traveling with the team, Hynes said if he is able, Hunt could join the Wild on the West Coast later in this two-week road trip.

“He’s progressing. I would assume that he’s going to meet us on the trip, I just don’t have an exact time yet,” Hynes said, adding that Hunt is working with team skating coach Andy Ness. “We’d like to make sure he gets some good skates with Andy and when he does come, he’s ready to be a game player.”

Hunt has played in a dozen games with two assists so far this season.

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Top officials in the administration of President Donald Trump are directing more federal law enforcement resources to investigate allegations of rampant government fraud in Minnesota — a move that comes in the wake of a viral video claiming significant abuse in Somali-run day care programs.

A video posted to social media platforms on Friday by YouTuber Nick Shirley shows what appear to be empty day care centers in Minneapolis and claims to expose millions of dollars in fraud in the state’s federally funded child care program. The video has more than 100 million views on X.

The video is based on existing allegations about fraud in Minnesota’s child care program, which until recently was run by the state’s Department of Human Services and is now under the authority of the Department of Children, Youth and Families, a spin-off agency.

In the video, Shirley visits several day cares, including Quality Learning Center, which had already been under investigation by state officials for various violations and had collected $7.8 million from the state since 2019, according to a January report by KSTP-TV.

The video drew praise from Vice President JD Vance, who reposted the video on X.

“This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 (Pulitzer Center) prizes,” he wrote.

In response to the video, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel announced boosts to federal law enforcement resources in the state. Social media posts Monday showed federal law enforcement agents visiting businesses in the Twin Cities area, including some shown in the video.

State response

At a Monday news conference addressing Shirley’s video, the Department of Children, Youth and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown said children were present at the day cares shown in the video during unannounced inspection visits in 2025. Still, the video warrants more scrutiny on fraud, she said.

“While we have questions about some of the methods that were used in the video, we do take the concerns that the video raises about fraud very seriously,” Brown told reporters. “Each of the facilities mentioned in the video has been visited at least once in the last six months as part of our typical licensing process.”

Brown said she had questions about when Shirley visited day cares, as some centers could have been closed, and said her department was making additional unannounced visits to businesses shown in the video to confirm whether children are present.

Two of the seven day cares Shirley visited in the video — Quality Learning Center and Mako Childcare — are no longer open. Quality Learning Center closed “just over a week ago,” Brown said. Mako “closed maybe even several years ago.”

Allegations of fraud

Allegations of fraud in federally funded state-administered programs, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson recently said could potentially top $9 billion since 2018, have drawn significant attention and scrutiny on the record of second-term Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz, who is seeking a third term.

Walz and officials in his administration continue to press back against claims by Republican critics and the Trump administration that they hadn’t done enough to address fraud in recent years.

Earlier in December, Walz announced the hiring of former Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension head Tim O’Malley as fraud czar.

In October, DHS, which oversees the Medicaid-funded programs that have seen significant fraud, ordered a third-party audit of 14 “high-risk” programs.

They also moved to shut down a Medicaid-funded housing-stabilization program beset by fraud after news emerged in July of a federal investigation into several providers.

Minnesota House Republicans on Monday told reporters that allegations of fraud in Minnesota’s day care program, including at Quality Learning Center, had come up at a hearing of the GOP-led Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight committee earlier this year,

“If DHS or the Walz administration had been serious about wanting to root up fraud, they would have already been taking care of these things much before we brought it up in February,” said House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2026.

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By ED WHITE, Associated Press

For the first time in 20 years, rain could be an intruder at the Rose Parade in Southern California, a venerable New Year’s Day event that attracts thousands of spectators and is watched by millions more on TV.

Storms caused Christmas week flooding, mudslides and other miseries across the region. Now comes a 90% chance of rain Thursday in Pasadena, according to the National Weather Service.

“We try not to say that word around here,” joked Candy Carlson, a spokesperson for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the organization behind the 137th Rose Parade, which precedes the Rose Bowl college football playoff game.

It has rained only 10 times in the parade’s history, she said, and not since 2006.

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Wet weather is unlikely to keep floats, marching bands, entertainers and others from participating. Carlson said people riding on floats will have rain gear if necessary, and tow trucks will be standing by in case of mechanical problems.

Spectators will need to prepare, too. Umbrellas are not allowed in parade seating areas that require tickets, though the ban doesn’t cover people who simply line up along the nearly 6-mile route. Curbside camping — no tents — begins at noon Wednesday. Rain also is predicted that day.

“Last year’s parade theme was ‘Best Day Ever!’ and six days later it was the worst,” said Lisa Derderian, spokesperson for the city of Pasadena, referring to the devastating Eaton wildfire in Los Angeles County. “We want to start the new year on a high note. Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates with the weather.”

In New York City, meanwhile, forecasters are predicting temperatures in the low 30s, which is not unusual, when the ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Light rain is possible that night in Las Vegas, where several casinos will be shooting fireworks from rooftops.

A Chisago City man was charged with murder after authorities in east-central Minnesota say he assaulted a security guard on Christmas Day while fleeing a hold in a Wyoming hospital emergency room.

Officials identified the guard as Andrea Merrell, 43. She worked at M Health Fairview Lakes Hospital in Wyoming.

Jonathan Chet Winch, 35, was charged Monday with one count of second-degree murder in Chisago County District Court in connection with her slaying.

The criminal complaint gave the following details:

About 5:24 p.m. Thursday, police were called to M Health Fairview Lakes Hospital after staff said a man who was on a medical hold in the emergency room pushed through the doors and was running away.

When a police officer arrived, he found Merrell lying unconscious near a security vehicle with its emergency lights on in the hospital parking lot. Winch, wearing sweatpants and no shirt, was allegedly trying to get into the vehicle.

When the officer stopped his squad car nearby, Winch jumped on the windshield of the squad. The officer got out and ordered Winch to the ground. Winch did not comply and continued to advance toward the officer saying multiple times, “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

The officer struggled with Winch for about five minutes while trying to detain him until backup officers arrived and took Winch into custody.

Surveillance cameras outside the hospital captured footage of Winch and Merrell on the ground near the security vehicle before the first officer arrived. The complaint said that Winch appeared to be striking or swinging at Merrell while sitting on top of her.

Merrell was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with severe head trauma. She died of her injuries on Saturday.

During his first court appearance on Monday in Chisago County District Court, Winch’s bail was set at $2 million. The court ordered a competency exam to be conducted while he is in custody.

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