As most Minnesota Wild fans have seen by now, their beloved star scorer, Kirill Kaprizov, is set to undergo surgery for a lower-body injury that has bothered him for most of the season. The Wild have gotten used to playing through injuries, but this surgery means Kaprizov will miss the next four weeks of the season, if not more.
Luckily for them, the almost two-week break for the 4 Nations Tournament will take up two of those weeks, but how will they do it for the other two? In this article, we’ll look at how the Wild will have to step up without Kaprizov, and we’ll start with how they’ve been through this before and can do it again.
Wild Can Survive This
The Wild have been through many injuries this season, and it’s important to remember that they have already been without Kaprizov for a good chunk of this season. He missed the first 12 games following the holiday break and the Wild went 7-5, so they can win games without Kaprizov in the lineup. It won’t be easy, as he did account for a good chunk of their scoring, but they have others who can step up and fill that role.
Many teams would falter without their star, but the Wild have proven they are not that kind of team this season. They struggle a bit in certain areas, like their power play, but that can also be fixed with the number of capable scorers they have on their team. The Wild haven’t lost games because of injuries; it’s when they stray away from their specific style of play.
Something else that has helped them this season is going on the road, and most of their games while Kaprizov recovers will be on the road. While they need to figure out their home game, being on the road with their top scorer out will hopefully be a good thing for them to keep winning games.
Wild Need Top Lines
If the Wild are going to get wins without Kaprizov in the lineup, others will have to fill in for the scoring. Players like Mats Zuccarello, Marco Rossi, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek will be the main players expected to step up and get goals. However, everyone on the Wild’s roster is capable of scoring, and they’ll need everyone to find ways to contribute, even if it’s not offensively.
If they lack in the scoring department because of Kaprizov’s absence, they will need their defense to step up and be better. Teams have to score goals to win games, but they also have to defend, something the Wild have lacked in the last few games. Speaking of defense, they could also use some more shots from the point in these games to produce some big rebounds. If they can do those things, they should be able to win without Kaprizov.
Wild Need to Play Their Game
It’s been said numerous times over this time of struggle for the Wild, they need to focus on their game play. They play a certain style that worked at the beginning of the season, and they’ve gotten away from it, which is why they’re struggling. They didn’t allow anything to affect their mental game and it helped keep them focused in the beginning.
They’ll need to dig deep, find that mentality again, and ensure they’re keeping their game simple. While that hasn’t been a problem on the road, they struggled against the Chicago Blackhawks and allowed themselves to get rattled. Rather than have a quick mental reset after the Blackhawks scored, they got flustered and allowed another goal.
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They have what it takes to win games, and they’ll have to believe that as they continue on this recent road trip. It’s only going to get harder as the season progresses, and now, without Kaprizov, everyone on the team has to be giving it their all.
Kaprizov Will be Back
Luckily for the Wild, this isn’t supposed to be a season-ending surgery, so they will get Kaprizov back eventually, and if it had to happen, right now is the best time. They have a break and are also doing well enough to play without him. However, they will need him for a playoff run, and he has time to recover before that will happen. Hopefully, the Wild can hang on for these four weeks or longer until Kaprizov is back and tally up some wins along the way.
