Wild’s Kaprizov Day-to-Day with Lower-Body Injury

St. Paul, Minn. – The Minnesota Wild will be without star forward Kirill Kaprizov for the immediate future as he is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury, the team announced Thursday. Sportsnet and the Star Tribune reported the injury occurred during Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks when Kaprizov was checked by Ryan Donato and hit the boards.

Impact on the Wild

Kaprizov, the Wild’s leading scorer with 38 goals and 42 assists for 80 points in 69 games this season, missed Thursday’s game against the Blackhawks. Minnesota lost the game 2-1, marking the first regulation loss to Chicago since December 2019. The Wild struggled to capitalize on offensive opportunities, with Matt Boldy and Vladimir Tarasenko hitting the iron on point-blank chances.

Recent Struggles

The Wild are currently 2-6-3 in their last 11 home games against teams outside of the top eight in their respective conferences. The team is also without Joel Eriksson Ek due to injury, further compounding their offensive challenges.

Coach Hynes’ Response

Wild coach John Hynes acknowledged the team’s recent struggles, stating, “We’re going through it a little bit. We got to work out of it. I think that’s what the situation is. So that’s what we’ll do.” Hynes plans to address the issues during a practice Friday, focusing on drills to reinforce the team’s identity and automatic responses.

Looking Ahead

Kaprizov’s status will continue to be evaluated on a day-to-day basis. The Wild will need to locate ways to generate offense in his absence as they push towards the playoffs.