Without Kaprizov, Wild rally to salvage a point in Calgary

With their superstar forward out of the lineup, the Wild refused to go quietly in the finale of their road trip.

By Jess Myers, Pioneer Press – November 23, 2024

CALGARY, Alberta – With advances in modern aviation, it has been said that pretty much anyone can fly a plane in good weather. What separates the novices from the pilots is how they react when the skies turn gray and the winds start to howl.

It has been a relatively smooth flight for the Minnesota Wild through 20 games, with the team off to its best start in franchise history. But outside the vintage rink in Calgary on Saturday afternoon, the skies were gray and the Alberta foothills were getting pelted with snow as the Wild dealt with their own storms on the ice, and in the visiting team training room.

Playing without star forward Kirill Kaprizov for the first time this season, and trailing by a pair of goals late on the road, the Wild could’ve quietly headed home. But a late power-play goal and an extra-attacker goal forced overtime before the Flames won a shootout for a 4-3 final. Still, the Wild salvaged a point in the final act of its three-game road trip.

“It’s five out of six points on the road, and then getting in a situation tonight where we’re down and just stay with it at the end and find a way to tie the game,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “So, lots of positives from tonight’s game. It’s all these situations early in the year, can you find a way to come through, do you stay with it, can you overcome adversity, can you find a way to grind out wins, grind out points? We certainly did that tonight and proud of the group.”

Already missing top-line forward Mat Zuccarello for a month, the Wild now faces some uncertainty about Kaprizov’s future. Hynes classified Kaprizov as day to day, and said the high-scoring Russian would be seen by medical professionals in the Twin Cities on Sunday, when they would know more.

“We still have a good team even though Kirill’s out,” said Wild forward Marcus Johansson, who scored in the first period on Saturday. “Obviously, when you’re missing maybe the best player in the world right now, it’s not a good thing. But we still have other players that can play and I think we showed that today. Guys stepped up and played big minutes, and yeah missing both Zuccy and Kirill, it’s not great for us but it is what it is and we have to find ways to win anyways.”

While Calgary scored on its two power plays, the Wild’s own power play continued to struggle until less than four minutes remained and Brock Faber clanked one off the post and in. With Filip Gustavsson on the bench, Marco Rossi forced overtime with his sixth goal of the season.

“You want to win the special teams battle when you can,” said Faber, who scored his third goal of the season. “It was important especially in a road game like that, in a hard environment, down some guys. It’s frustrating in that sense, but I think our push-back was good. Far from perfect, but the response when we went down 3-1 was a great sign.”

Kaprizov was hurt in the second period of Thursday’s 5-3 win at Edmonton after a knee-on-knee check in the neutral zone from Oilers forward Drake Caggulia. Although he returned to finish the game, and Hynes said it was not a serious injury following the team’s Friday practice, the emergency call-up of former Gophers forward Travis Boyd for his Wild debut made it clear there was at least an anticipation that Minnesota would be down a forward or two versus the Flames.

Marat Khusnutdinov also missed Saturday’s game due to injury incurred when he blocked a shot versus the Oilers.

The Wild controlled the offensive zone for long stretches in the first period and got the game’s first power play, but could not convert on the man-advantage. Instead, momentum swung the home team’s way and Calgary took the lead with five minutes left in the first, when Kevin Rooney blocked Gustavsson’s view, then tipped a shot past the goalie.

The Wild answered 63 seconds later when Boldy grabbed a Flames’ turnover in the neutral zone, sparking a 2-on-1 rush to the net. Boldly slipped a cross-ice pass to Johansson, whose rising shot hit Flames goalie Dan Vladar in the chest, then ricocheted into the upper right corner of the net.

Calgary took its second lead with 30.3 seconds left in the second, scoring on their first power play of the game, then went up 3-1 with another power-play goal.

Gustavsson did his part, finishing with 28 saves and registered a sliding save in overtime to deny Yegor Sharangovich.

Vladar had 20 saves for Calgary. In the shootout, he stopped four of the Wild’s five shooters for the extra point.

It was the first game either Kaprizov or Khusnutdinov has missed this season, but the loss of No. 97 was especially glaring, after he posted 13 goals and 34 points in Minnesota’s first 19 games and set a franchise record for consecutive road games with a point.

The Wild had won road games in St. Louis and Edmonton before Saturday’s battle in Calgary. They return home for a Monday night game versus league-leading Winnipeg.