Kirill Kaprizov and Filip Gustavsson are week to week for the Minnesota Wild because of injuries.
Kaprizov was placed on injured reserve Wednesday after he left midway through the third period of a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. The forward sustained an upper-body injury from a cross-check to the hip from Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon.
Gustavsson made 19 saves through two periods before leaving with a lower-body injury and was replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury, who made nine saves in the third.
“It is kind of vague," Wild coach John Hynes said Tuesday. "I think in general their injuries right now are a little bit vague but the timeline is vague. It could be shorter than that; it could be longer. We’re kind of just in a waiting phase to see.
“They did get evaluated Sunday and now we’re just seeing how they respond to certain stuff now and then. We’ll probably have a better feel in the next couple days of how long it might be.”
Kaprizov, who had a six-game point streak (10 points; five goals, five assists), leads the Wild with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 34 games.
Gustavsson is 10-9-2 with a 2.95 goals-against average, .903 save percentage and two shutouts in 22 games (all starts). He started nine of 12 games prior to being injured.
Defenseman Jared Spurgeon (undisclosed) was also placed on injured reserve Wednesday. He played 20:15 in a 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. The Wild recalled defenseman Daemon Hunt from Iowa of the American Hockey League.
Fleury, who became the fourth goalie in NHL history to play 1,000 games in a 3-2 loss to the Jets on Sunday, remained one shy of tying Patrick Roy for second in NHL history with 551 wins when the Wild lost Tuesday.
Gustavsson was placed on injured reserve Tuesday; goalie Zane McIntyre was recalled from Iowa on Sunday.
The Wild (16-16-4), who are seventh in the Central Division, are also without forward Mats Zuccarello, who sustained an upper-body injury Dec. 20 and has since been week to week. He skated with the team Tuesday for the first time since his injury.
Defenseman Jonas Brodin remains week to week with an upper-body injury sustained Dec. 8; he has not resumed skating.
Hynes said the Wild will rely heavily on recalls and depth players to pick up the slack, including forwards Jake Lucchini and Nic Petan; Lucchini was recalled from Iowa on Dec. 26, Petan on Sunday.
“It’s a little bit of a pack mentality,” Hynes said. “I think the strength is in the pack and we've got to make sure, like everything, I don’t necessarily think your game plan changes. If you have a full lineup or you have guys out of your lineup, when you’re called upon to defend, you've got to defend the right way. ... We have capable players. We have speed. We have depth. I like the guys that have come in and played for us. To me, it’s about bringing our best.
“We need everybody to bring their best. When you’re in a situation like this, it’s not where you can come in and have a B- or C-game. You've got to come in, everyone’s got to have their A-game, we've got to play a really good team-structured game offensively and defensively, and then the guys that get other opportunities, I think that they’ve really come in and brought some life to our team. They’ve been impact players. ... So, from that standpoint it doesn’t change.”
