And the clearest signal that Kaprizov and Spurgeon would be back is that the Wild reassigned defenseman David Jiricek two hours after practice. If you did the salary cap math, it really was the only option to get below the cap ceiling once Kaprizov is activated from LTIR.
The Wild had their best player back for the first time in a month, but they didn’t play like it. Kirill Kaprizov’s return was spoiled by a 4-0 shellacking from Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center that continued the Wild’s woes at home.
PAUL - The Minnesota Wild (28-15-4) are in action tonight against the Utah Hockey Club (20-19-7) for the third meeting between the two teams this year. The Wild are welcoming Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon into the lineup tonight.
The Minnesota Wild are getting a perfect storm of returns for Thursday evening against the Utah Hockey Club as both star forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon have been activated from IR.
ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild held a practice on Wednesday and are set to host the Utah Hockey Club for a game on Thursday night. The Wild have some positive news surrounding the team. Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon were full participants during practice and seem likely to return to the lineup on Thursday.
Superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice on Wednesday. Head coach John Hynes told reporters he's "cautiously optimistic" that both will play in their upcoming game against the Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center.
For the Minnesota Wild, getting key players healthy and back into the lineup is turning out to be just the first step in what is a longer-than-expected process of getting their groove back. Returning to winning hockey games with the likes of Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon in the lineup remains an elusive goal.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild were meeting in tumultuous times. Both teams had lost their previous two games, with Minnesota losing 5-4 to the Calgary Flames the night before.
Minnesota Wild president general manager Bill Guerin is concerned about the recent stretch of play from his team and he did not mince words on his feelings after the lack of response to Calgary Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson throwing a jab to the face of Marc-Andre Fleury on Saturday.
Andrei Kuzmenko had two goals and an assist, and the Calgary Flames used their power play to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4.
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka angrily smashed her racket after losing her Australian Open crown to an unexpected challenger, 19th seed Madison Keys, and then explained that she had needed to clear her head before making the traditional runner-up speech.
Filip Gustavsson made 25 saves for the Wild (28-16-4), which has lost four of its past five. Forward Kirill Kaprizov had three shots in 16:39 after missing the past 12 games with a lower-body injury.