The good news for the Minnesota Wild is that Kirill Kaprizov is expected to return sooner rather than later from his lower-body injury.
The bad news for the Wild is that they are not sure whether Kaprizov will be back in time for their game against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night in St. Paul, Minn.
Wild forward Frederick Gaudreau said he and his teammates would be ready either way.
“We play smart defensively first, and we create our chances from that,” Gaudreau said. “I don’t think it’s time because one guy’s out that you overthink everything.
“We all know he’s important. He’s special, and he creates a lot for the team every time he’s on the ice. But that’s him. We can’t try to play like him. We’ve just got to play our game and focus on what we all have to do.”
If Kaprizov is able to return, it will provide a clear boost to Minnesota. He leads the team in goals (23), assists (27) and points (50) in 34 games, and despite his recent absence, he still leads the NHL with 20 goals on even strength. He also has three power-play goals.
Ottawa will try to play the spoiler role. The Senators are set to play the sixth contest of a nine-game road trip that started Dec. 17 and will not wrap up until Jan. 7.
In their most recent game Saturday night, the Senators dropped a 4-2 decision against the Winnipeg Jets. Tim Stutzle and Ridly Greig each scored one goal for Ottawa, which couldn’t hold on to a 2-0 lead.
The setback marked the Senators’ second straight loss after winning their previous six games in a row.
Ottawa coach Travis Green said he liked his players’ approach heading into Sunday night’s tilt in Minnesota.
“We look at ourselves as a good team,” Green said. “We’ve been playing good hockey. We did (on Saturday night). But we need to be a little better in certain areas.”
The Senators are expected to start Leevi Merilainen in net one night after Mads Sogaard got the nod against Winnipeg. Merilainen is 1-1-0 with a 3.72 goals-against average and an .846 save percentage in two games this season.
The 22-year-old Merilainen, who has played in four NHL games, has yet to face the Wild in his career.
Minnesota will counter with Filip Gustavsson or Marc-Andre Fleury in net. Gustavsson is 16-5-3 with a 2.26 goals-against and a .922 save percentage in 24 games, while Fleury is 6-3-1 with a 2.81 GAA and an .898 save percentage in 11 games.
Wild coach John Hynes did not specify whether Kaprizov would be available Sunday.
“When you have a player of Kirill’s caliber, he does things that other players can’t do,” Hynes said. “So when you miss a player like that, some of his individual abilities and the ways that he can generate offense, the way that he is, you don’t have that.
“But you don’t try to replicate that. It’s more (that) you want to have a team game. The guys that are in the lineup have to be able to play to their skill sets.”
This will be the first of two regular-season meetings between the teams. They also are scheduled to face each other again Feb. 1 in Ottawa.
–Field Level Media
