Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov out vs. Flames with lower-body injury

Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Wild have announced that winger Kirill Kaprizov and center Marat Khusnutdinov will not play in Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames due to lower-body injuries.

#mnwild INJURY UPDATE: Forwards Kirill Kaprizov (lower-body) and Marat Khusnutdinov (lower-body) will not play in today’s game at Calgary.

— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) November 23, 2024

Kaprizov suffered his injury during the second period of Thursday’s 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers when Drake Caggiula went for a hit and made contact with the 27-year-old’s leg. Kaprizov went to the dressing room after the hit, but then returned to play out the rest of the game.

According to Athletic reporter Michael Russo, Kaprizov will have his injury evaluated when the team returns to Minnesota tomorrow.

The Wild and Kaprizov will have to hope that the injury doesn’t disrupt what has been an incredible season so far for the Novokuznetsk, Russia product. He has 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points in 19 games, which is tied with Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead in scoring.

The cause of Khusnutdinov’s injury is less known, but it’s likely that he suffered it when blocking a shot from Evan Bouchard on the penalty kill during the third period of Thursday’s game, although he played out the rest of the game. He is currently out on a day-to-day basis.

Khusnutdinov hasn’t been overly productive with just 2 assists through 19 games with the Wild this season, but has been a solid defensive forward the team with a 5v5 on-ice expected goals against per 60 minutes of just 1.8.

With both forwards out, Ben Jones and Travis Boyd will draw into the lineup for Saturday’s game. Jones has played one game for the Wild this season, going without a point in that game, while Boyd will be making his Wild debut.

Marcus Johansson will replace Kaprizov on the Wild’s top line and reunite with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy. Those three players have played 129 minutes together this season, outscoring opponents by a score of 6-2 and managing a 56.93% 5v5 expected goal share in that time.