LOS ANGELES — Until Nico Sturm scored a classic garbage time goal late in the Minnesota Wild’s 5-2 win in Anaheim on Friday, the visiting team’s offense had been an all-Russian affair. Minnesota built a three-goal lead after Danila Yurov scored twice, and Kirill Kaprizov and Yakov Trenin each scored once.

Among the team’s quartet of Russians, only Vladimir Tarasenko – who had three shots on goal in the game – failed to get in on the party.

“Vladdy with no points, but if he scored it (would) be a great night for Russia,” Yurov said afterward in his halting but rapidly improving English.

In training camp and early in the season, when he was still getting used to the pace and style of the NHL, Yurov used Tarasenko as an interpreter on a few occasions. Now, the 22-year-old speaks on his own, and takes some pride in his growing grasp of the language. And on the ice, centering the team’s top line between Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, his contributions are on display for all to see.

“My adaptation, I think, is over,” Yurov said following his first two-goal game as a NHL player. “My English is improving every day. I speak a lot of (it) in the locker room and in the hotel with guys, and try to do good things on the ice, just working in (the) gym. Try getting better every day.”

Both of his goals versus the Ducks came from going to the net and letting master set-up man Quinn Hughes find him. The first came when a Hughes shot to the net was tipped by Trenin, then glanced off Yurov’s skate and in. The second came when Yurov tipped a Hughes shot to put the game away in the third.

“He scored because he was in the right spots,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Obviously, Hughes made a couple nice shots, and when you’re in that scoring area, which he got to tonight, it was good to see him get rewarded for it.”

Picked 24th overall by the Wild in the 2022 NHL Draft while playing in the KHL in his native country, Yurov won a league title there in 2024, then signed with the Wild a year later in May 2025. He made his debut Oct. 13 of this season in a 2-1 shootout win over the Kings in St. Paul.

With the Wild up by three in the closing minute on Friday, and the Ducks goalie on the bench for an extra attacker, Minnesota controlled the puck and it was obvious that Kaprizov and Zuccarello were trying to feed Yurov for the potential first hat trick into the empty net. It didn’t work out, and the Wild “settled” for a 3-0-1 record so far on this two-week road trip.

But with the game in hand, Hynes enjoyed watching his top line trying to create a milestone for Yurov.

“Yurov’s such a good kid, and it was nice to see those guys trying to get it to him,” Hynes said. “I was hoping it was going to work out.”

The Wild as an organization make an emphasis on five star lodging when the team travels. Visiting the Ducks, that meant holing up at a world-renowned resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach for a few nights. The stay was tempered just a bit by the fact that January is definitely the rainy season in the Golden State. Peeks of sunshine amid spotty showers and temperatures in the 60s fahrenheit were the best California had to offer.

Still, for Yurov’s first trip to the West Coast, the accommodations were impressive.

“I thought it was good,” he said of the resort. “But the weather, not good.”

Minnesota Wild right wing Danila Yurov, right, skates off after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

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