It is unfortunate that the long anticipated matchup between the NHL's greatest goal scorer and top Russian, Alex Ovechkin and the next great one Kirill Kaprizov.
It is not known how long Kaprizov will be out but the hope is he can return for the next game which is not until next Friday. Jonas Brodin will not play tonight either as he was hurt blocking a shot on Thursday and it could be more serious than initially thought.
Joel Eriksson Ek is ahead of schedule and could return next game and Jared Spurgeon is skating on his own so he may not be far off either.
Brandon Duhaime cleared Covid-19 protocol and should play tonight but Jordan Greenway did not. Cam Talbot is also skating so hopefully he is also not far away from returning, but tonight should be interesting without so many of the Wild's key players for a matchup with the Caps.
Kaapo Kahkonen will be in net once again and if he plays anywhere near the level we saw on Thursday the Wild have every bit of a good chance to come out with the two points in front of the home faithful for the first home game since December 16th. They of course played the Winter Classic technically at home but not at the temperature controlled XCEL Energy Center haha.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!