Wild settle into a plodding pace in the absence of standout Kirill Kaprizov

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Dec 31, 2024

Published in Hockey

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The Wild’s best player is hurt, losses have outnumbered wins for the past three weeks, and the schedule is back to its every-other-day rhythm after a brief pause for the holidays.

Although they’re not officially at the halfway point yet, it already feels like the Wild are in the murky middle of the season, the blah blip that hits when the going gets grittier. Injuries sting more, losses become stickier, and catching up to momentum is like running on sand — not impossible but certainly tougher.

Just look at the Wild’s recent events: After a hard-fought rally in overtime at Dallas without Kirill Kaprizov, they were on the other side of a gutsy performance two nights later, getting denied 3-1 Sunday at Xcel Energy Center by a Senators team even more decimated by injury than them that was finishing off a back-to-back during a run of nine consecutive road games while Ottawa plays host to the World Junior Championship.

“Coming off a big win in Dallas and then obviously we want to get some more wins at home and have teams be more afraid to come in and play us,” defenseman Declan Chisholm said. “(That) was a big game for us.”

The Wild are still in good shape.

They have their tremendous start to thank for that, their 18-4-4 waltz through the first 25-plus games lifting them high enough in the standings that the 4-7 dip since hasn’t demoted them from the top five in the NHL. But these have been the most trying times of their season, and until Kaprizov’s lower-body injury heals, they’ll continue to be tested.

While they persevered without him against the Stars during their 3-2 OT comeback, his omission was glaring vs. the Senators.

Despite facing a rookie goalie who had only four games of NHL experience, the Wild couldn’t muster more than a goal (off a deflection). They had quality looks, hitting the post multiple times, but they never had that clutch finish — the kind of goal Kaprizov supplies.

Still, there are other ways for the Wild to manufacture offense that doesn’t depend on their leading scorer’s unique abilities.

“We have to get on the forecheck,” veteran forward Mats Zuccarello explained. “We also have to make plays. We gotta make the plays that need to be made. Sometimes it’s chip-ins. Sometimes it’s weak-side ‘D’ joining. Sometimes it’s carrying the puck in, creating like that.

“Sometimes we don’t make those plays when we have to.”

Coach John Hynes thought the Wild generated offense against Ottawa but didn’t score goals.

What stood out to him was how the Wild dropped the ball on the Senators’ two tallies before their empty-netter, situations that could have been avoided had the Wild executed better. Ottawa capitalized during a lengthy shift in the Wild’s zone and then secured the game-winner during the third period on the power play.

“When we’re playing a detailed, smart game, you give yourself the best chance to win,” Hynes said. “We want to pride ourselves on being smart. We want that as a competitive advantage to our team.”

The Wild can meet these expectations: That’s how they stockpiled so many victories early in the season, by being methodical and precise all over the ice.

But staying locked in for an entire season is unrealistic, and their circumstances are challenging.

They’re missing Kaprizov and two other regulars in defenseman Jake Middleton and winger Jakub Lauko. Center Joel Eriksson Ek did return Sunday after sitting out 11 games with a lower-body injury.

Plus, their competition is challenging. After the Wild’s homestand concludes Tuesday vs. Nashville, they’ll go on the road to Washington and Carolina.

“We just need to be consistent,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said.

The Wild are ho-hum since ending their season-worst, four-game losing streak, getting that feel-good win against a Central Division rival in the Stars but then sagging against a Senators lineup facing more adversity than them.

These shoulder shrugs happen, especially at this point of the calendar, but how the Wild respond to the “meh” miles of the marathon they’re in will set the tone for the rest of their trek.

“In the middle of the season like this, it’s gray outside, it’s dark outside, I think we gotta have fun,” Zuccarello said. “Coming to the rink every day, have fun. It’s a grind, 82 games. If you don’t have fun especially at this time, it can be hard when you lose. You win some. You lose some.

“That’s just the NHL season — up and down.”

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