Kirill Kaprizov scores twice to lead the Wild past the Flyers 4-1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored twice to reach 20 goals for the season as the Minnesota Wild beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Saturday.

Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi also scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 of 21 shots he faced as the Wild — at least temporarily — took the league lead in points with 44.

Samuel Ersson made 19 saves for the Flyers, who spoiled Fleury's shutout bid on Travis Sanheim's goal with just under six minutes remaining.

Kaprizov opened the scoring with a high shot from a bad angle that deflected off Ersson's helmet and into the net. He added an empty-net score with 2:10 remaining.

Boldy scored on a breakaway in the second, and Rossi completed a nifty 2-on-1 with Mats Zuccarello, who returned after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury.

Flyers: Philadelphia saw its seven-game points streak on the road come to an end.

Wild: Minnesota was coming off a 7-1 drubbing by Edmonton on Thursday. The Wild have not lost consecutive games in regulation this season. They welcomed Zuccarello and Joneas Brodin back to the lineup after lengthy absences, and each player had an assist.

With the teams playing 4-on-4 late in the second period, Wild defenseman Brock Faber tracked down a loose puck in the corner of his defensive zone and lifted a long breakout pass toward center ice. Boldy beat everybody to the puck, deked Ersson to the ice and flipped a forehand shot into the net for a 2-0 lead.

The Flyers' power play went 0 for 3 against Minnesota’s 30th-ranked penalty kill.

The Wild host Vegas on Sunday, while the Flyers visit Detroit on Wednesday.

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

Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) prepares to save the puck while Wild defenseman Brock Faber (7) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) skates the puck up the ice during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno (17) throws Philadelphia Flyers right wing Garnet Hathaway, left, to the ice during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson (33) prepares to save the puck while Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim (6) dives to block and Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Wild center Marat Khusnutdinov (22) dives to block a Philadelphia Flyers pass during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Wild center Marat Khusnutdinov (22) battles for the puck with Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) and right wing Matvei Michkov (39) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) follows the action during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, said any of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees seeking confirmation should “steer clear” of efforts to discredit the polio vaccine.

“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell said in a Friday statement. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”

The 82-year-old lawmaker’s statement appeared to be directed at Trump’s nominee for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after a report that one of his advisors filed a petition to revoke approval for the polio vaccine in 2022. It was a sign that Kennedy, who has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism, could face resistance in the soon-to-be GOP-controlled Senate.

“Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied,” said Katie Miller, the transition spokeswoman for Kennedy, in response to questions.

The New York Times reported Friday that a lawyer who is helping Kennedy select candidates for health official positions filed a petition to get the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine — widely considered to have halted the disease in most parts of the world — and pause distribution of several other vaccines. The Washington Post also confirmed the petition. The AP has not independently confirmed the petition, which was filed in 2022, according to the Times.

Vaccines have been proven to be safe and effective in laboratory testing and in real-world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades — they are considered among the most effective public health measures in history.

McConnell contracted polio at 2 years old but survived, he said Friday, because of “the miraculous combination of modern medicine and a mother’s love.” He praised the “saving power” of the polio vaccine for the “millions who came after me.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also responded Friday to the Times report. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he called it “outrageous and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try and get rid of the polio vaccine that has virtually eradicated polio in America and saved millions of lives.

He called on Kennedy to clarify his own position on it.

Trump nominated Kennedy last month, saying he would work to protect Americans “from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives.”

But his nomination was immediately met with alarm from scientists and public health officials, who fear Kennedy would unwind life-saving public health initiatives, like vaccines.

Kennedy has pushed other conspiracy theories regarding vaccines, such as that COVID-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, comments he later said were taken out of context. He has repeatedly brought up the Holocaust when discussing vaccines and public health mandates.

Kennedy said he plans to remake the Department of Health and Human Services, an agency with sprawling reach and a $1.3 trillion budget, if he is approved. He has suggested the Food and Drug Administration is beholden to “big pharma,” and his anti-vaccine nonprofit has called on it to stop using COVID-19 vaccines.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, his nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, petitioned the FDA to halt the use of all COVID vaccines. The group has alleged that the FDA is beholden to “big pharma” because it receives much of its budget from industry fees and some employees who have departed the agency have gone on to work for drugmakers.

Children’s Health Defense currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., left, wears a bandage on his face and wrist as he walks to cast a vote on the Senate floor after falling during a luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)