Quinn Hughes scores in Minnesota debut as Wild beat Bruins 6-2 for 4th straight win

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Quinn Hughes scored in his Minnesota debut and the Wild beat the Boston Bruins 6-2 on Sunday for their fourth straight win.

Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and an assist for the Wild, who improved to 16-3-2 since Nov. 1, including 10-0-2 at home.

Ryan Hartman had a goal and two assists, Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist and Jared Spurgeon also scored for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson made 29 saves, improving to 6-1-1 with a 1.84 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in his past eight starts.

Alex Steeves and Andrew Peeke scored, and Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves for Boston.

Playing his first game with the Wild after being acquired in a blockbuster trade with Vancouver on Friday, Hughes took a drop pass from Hartman in the opening minute of the third period and put a low wrist shot between Swayman's pads to make it 4-0.

Hughes, who led all defensemen with 92 points in 2023-24, was paired with Brock Faber on Minnesota’s top blue-line pair and quarterbacked the first power-play unit. Faber had two assists.

Spurgeon scored his first goal in 30 games when his wrist shot found its way through traffic for a power-play tally midway through the first period for a 1-0 lead.

Midway through the second period, Kaprizov doubled the Wild lead thanks to a fortuitous carom. Boldy’s shot was deflected by a defenseman but quickly ricocheted off the end boards to Kaprizov who tucked the puck past Swayman at the right post.

Faber split a pair of defenders and fed Hartman for an easy redirect less than four minutes later for the Wild’s second power-play tally.

Boldy made it 5-0 before Steeves scored off a scramble midway through the third period. Kaprizov made it 6-1 with his 20th of the season with 5:05 remaining, and Peeke scored in the final second of the third period.

Bruins: Host Utah on Tuesday.

Wild: Host Washington on Tuesday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes, right, and Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) battle for position during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)

Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) makes a glove-save during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)

Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) celebrates with center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)

Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes warms up before an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)

Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber (7) talks with defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel's military ordered on Wednesday residents of dozens of border villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate “immediately” as airstrikes on suburbs of Beirut intensified and Hezbollah claimed more attacks.

Lebanon was dragged early Monday into the war in the Middle East, which erupted following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, when the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group fired rockets and drones into northern Israel, triggering Israeli retaliatory airstrikes on different parts of the country that killed more than 50 people and wounded about 300.

The conflict also displaced tens of thousands of people from southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The Israeli military issued a statement Wednesday telling people living in dozens of villages in southern Lebanon close to the border with Israel to evacuate and move “immediately” north of the Litani River.

The Israeli army’s Arabic spokesperson warned on X that if people decide to move south of the river, they will be endangering their lives.

The area south of the Litani River, about 8% of the size of Lebanon, is mostly along the border with Israel. The Lebanese government says it has cleared the area of Hezbollah’s military presence there over the past months.

The order came after airstrikes overnight on the predominantly Christian southeastern suburb of Hazmieh that struck a hotel. Others hit the towns of Aramoun and Saadiyat just south of Beirut’s international airport, killing six and wounding eight. Another strike hit the eastern city of Baalbek, killing six people and wounding 15, according to state media.

The four airstrikes came without a warning in advance, which usually implies targeted assassinations. Security officials speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations said the man targeted in Hazmieh was a local official in Beirut’s southern suburb of Ghobeiri who got wounded.

“We live in a country where a missile can fall on your head at any moment,” said Maggie Shibli, wife of the owner of the Hotel Comfort in a Hazmieh neighborhood that was struck early Wednesday.

Abbas Najdeh, who was displaced from the southern port city of Tyre and was staying at the hotel, said: “We were sleeping then suddenly I, my children and my wife were thrown away.”

Also Wednesday, the Israeli military issued several warnings to people to evacuate buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which were struck shortly afterward.

Hezbollah said Wednesday that it carried out several attacks on Israel, including two in which the group claimed that it used precision-guided missiles.

The warning for people to leave the area south of the Litani River came a day after Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon for the first time since a cease-fire ended a 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war in November 2024.

It was not immediately clear if Israel is preparing for a ground invasion. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli artillery shelling on several Lebanese villages along the border, including Aid al-Shaab and Beit Lif.

In eastern Lebanon, the main border crossing with Syria was briefly closed Wednesday after Lebanese officials received a warning of an impending Israeli strike, which officials later said turned out to be a false alarm. There have been false alarms elsewhere in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, causing fears among residents.

The ongoing conflict is not the first between Hezbollah and Israel. Hezbollah began firing into Israel a day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza. After months of low-level fighting, a full-scale war erupted in September 2024 and Israel later launched a ground invasion of Lebanon.

Israeli forces withdrew from most of southern Lebanon after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire halted the fighting in late 2024, but continued to occupy five points on the Lebanese side of the border. Israel also pressed on with near-daily strikes, primarily in southern Lebanon, saying that Hezbollah has been trying to rebuild its positions there.

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Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

A Lebanese soldier passes in front of a damaged hotel that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Hazmieh, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israeli tanks maneuver near the Israel-Lebanon border, in northern Israel, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburb, near Rafik Hariri International Airport, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)