Kaprizov has missed the past 10 games with a lower-body injury that has required lots of treatments and pushed-back timetables.

The Minnesota Wild are playing the Colorado Avalanche at 7:00 p.m. tonight. The Wild are riding a four-game win streak and come into today’s game after scoring at least four goals in each of the last four matches.

I think the guys have really bought in and understand that we have to play a really strong team game,” said coach John Hynes. “When you have players out, then it’s incumbent on the guys that are

The Avalanche struck first when the Wild defense was caught flat-footed and Josh Manson’s long lead pass found Logan O’Connor unattended at the blue line. The Colorado forward ripped a low shot past Gustavsson before even four minutes had ticked off in the game.

The Minnesota Wild are off to a great start, currently, they are second in the Central division and have improved in basically every metric compared to last season. The only worry is the absence of Kirill Kaprizov and the concerns it could have on the rest of the season.

The Minnesota Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche for their first season meeting on Thursday evening, Jan. 9. The Wild were still without Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, and Jakub Lauko.

This is the obvious one. Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 68 points, seven more than Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl in second place. Also of note, he’s first in points per game at 1.58, narrowly ahead of the Art Ross winner last season, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov at 1.57.

Although Kaprizov was a limited participant in Wednesday's morning skate, he'll be forced to miss a 10th consecutive game due to his lower-body injury. It's not yet clear when he'll be able to return to game action, but he's been trending in the right direction recently. His next chance to suit up will be Saturday in Nashville.

Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) was placed on the Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR), Marcus Johansson (concussion) was placed on the Injured Reserve, Ben Jones was sent to Iowa, Jakub Lauko (lower body) was activated off LTIR and Brendan Gaunce, Liam Ohgren, and Devin Shore were recalled.

Kaprizov (lower body) was placed on long-term injured reserve Thursday, retroactive to Dec. 23. Kaprizov is eligible to return Saturday versus the Predators. The 27-year-old winger's move to LTIR is a cap-related transaction,

The buzz continued when Jakub Lauko followed him, and it got notably louder when Kirill Kaprizov joined the party ... trip to Nashville (Saturday) and Colorado (Monday). “Usually you come ...