Blast from the past: Wild captain Koivu erupts for two-goal performance

Mikko Koivu, Wild center (⬆️ UP)

Well, that certainly came out of nowhere. Koivu hadn’t scored a goal since Nov. 9 – that’s a span of 31 games (!!!) – but the captain lit the lamp twice Tuesday night against Columbus. Both goals came within eight minutes of each other in the second period. It was Koivu’s first multi-goal game since Jan. 5, 2017 and his first at the Xcel Energy Center since Dec. 28, 2015. Talk about a blast from the past!

ANOTHER ONE FOR THE CAPTAIN!!!#mnwild pic.twitter.com/ZLODYIKBXY

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) February 26, 2020

Zach Parise, Wild forward ‾_(ツ)_/‾

Insert the “this is fine” meme here. Just about everyone – reporters, players, our Facebook commenters and even Parise himself – thought the veteran forward was out the door and headed for the New York Islanders at the trade deadline. But general manager Bill Guerin couldn’t come to terms on a trade that involved Parise’s very complicated (and expensive) 13-year contract he signed on July 4, 2012. Parise still has five years remaining on that deal after this season wraps up. Parise still brings value to the Wild – after all, he’s their leading scorer with 21 goals – but he’ll likely be traded this summer if Guerin decides to embrace a full rebuild of the roster.

Juancho Hernangomez, Timberwolves forward (⬇️ DOWN)

Hernangomez’s career in Minnesota got off to a booming start, as the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 15.5 points and drained 12 of 19 attempts from 3-point range over his first four games. But Hernangomez has hit a bit of a rough patch over his last two. In his return to Denver, Hernangomez shot just 2 of 9 from the field and finished with seven points, followed up with an eight-point performance Monday night in Dallas.

Devan Dubnyk, Wild goaltender (⬇️ DOWN)

Dubnyk allowed four goals in the Wild’s ugly 4-1 loss to St. Louis on Sunday night. The 33-year old has appeared in 29 games in 2019-20 but has won back-to-back games just once.

Marcus Carr, Gophers guard (⬆️ UP)

Carr has been a frequent flyer in our Midweek Stock Report because the highs have been high and the lows have been oh, so low during his debut season in Minnesota. Well, as of Feb. 26, things are looking up for the sophomore. Carr poured in 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting (3 of 5 from downtown) to lead the Gophers to an 83-57 rout of lowly Northwestern on Sunday afternoon. As Carr goes, so do the Gophers. Minnesota is 10-2 when Carr scores 17+ points. And when he doesn’t, the Gophers are 3-11. Oof.

Minnesota Twins baseball (⬆️ UP)

Minnesota began Grapefruit League play over the weekend and saw newcomers like Josh Donaldson and Kenta Maeda make their unofficial debuts in a Twins uniform. We won’t bore you with spring-training stats — at least not this early into exhibition play — but it’s always exciting to see the new guys suit up and imagine what this lineup will look like come opening day on March 26.