Quinn Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov bring out the best in each other in another Wild victory

Quinn Hughes is only days away from flying to Italy and officially becoming an Olympian.

The star defenseman will make his anticipated return to international hockey after injury sidelined him from the 4 Nations Face-Off last year, and he’ll get to play alongside his brother Jack for the first time since both suited up for the United States at the 2019 World Championship.

But Hughes has been concentrating on a different team.

“I’ve only been here six, seven weeks, or whatever it is,” said Hughes, referring to the Dec. 12 trade that sent him from Vancouver to the Wild and shocked the NHL. “So, my main focus was just trying to get acclimated here and play good hockey for the Wild.”

Hughes can jet off to Milan knowing he accomplished that goal.

In the Wild’s last home game before the NHL goes on hiatus for the Olympics, Hughes had his fingerprints all over the team’s latest zany win, a 4-3 overtime comeback against Montreal after the Wild were stung by two last-minute goals and a first-minute tally in the third period to blow a 2-0 lead.

After setting up Kirill Kaprizov to gain that two-goal head start, Hughes carried the puck out of the Wild’s zone to start the play that would end with his defensive partner Brock Faber scoring the 3-3 tying goal. Then in overtime, on his second minute-plus shift, Hughes handed off to Kaprizov for the winger’s fourth OT winner of the season and 14th of his NHL career; this one came on the power play after Kaprizov drew a hooking penalty.

That was the 13th goal the two have combined on.

Coach John Hynes didn’t see that chemistry immediately between Hughes and Kaprizov; to him, their cohesiveness has grown over time.

“They’re both unique players in the way that they play their game,” Hynes explained, “and some of the nuances and tendencies that each guy has, the more that they play together, the more that it seems like it’s being in sync, and it’s a little bit more connected than when I think Hughesie first got in here.”

While Kaprizov is only two goals shy of matching Marian Gaborik at 219 for the most in franchise history, Hughes is racking up his own records.

No Wild player until him ever had five games with at least three assists in a season. With an assist Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Nashville, he would pass Kaprizov’s nine-game assist streak for the longest by a Wild player. And speaking of Team USA, Hughes is the second-fastest American in NHL history to reach 400 assists in his career, getting there in 484 games; he became the third-fastest defenseman overall after Kaprizov buried Hughes’ pass in overtime vs. the Canadiens.

But Kaprizov isn’t the only beneficiary.

Take Faber, who has seven of his 13 goals since he began playing with Hughes.

“It’s been great, and I just think that it’s not a final picture yet, too,” Hughes said. “Another 20 games we’ll be even better, just the relationship I’m starting to grow with him off the ice, and we’re reading off each other pretty well on the ice. I think it’s been great for both of us, and I’m certainly enjoying it.

“So, like I said, I think we’ll just continue to get better.”

During his first 25 games with the Wild, Hughes has lived up to the hype, the former Norris Trophy winner looking like a contender to repeat as the league’s top defenseman; his 50 assists are tops for the position, and only he, Edmonton’s dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon have recorded 50 assists the past five seasons.

“The way he skates and the way opens lanes, I think it almost opens me up,” Faber said. “All eyes are on him when he gets the puck. So, when I get it, I feel like I have so much more time, and that’s just what superstars have. When McDavid or Draisaitl, all those guys get the puck, everyone’s focused on them.