Kirill Kaprizov's injury and subsequent extended absence from the Wild lineup may be the blessi g in disguise they needed.
In the 21 games prior to Kaprizov's injury the Wild scored 40 goals! That was with their franchise winger in the lineup. The knock on the Wild was how will they be able to win when it counts without more scoring depth.
Well out of necessity they haf to fi d more offense without Kirill.
In the ni e games without Kaprizov, the Wild have scored 38 goals!
There are a couple of additional factors that go into the offensive upswing for the Wild of course.
The return of Ryan Hartman from injury has been key. Bill Guerin's trade deadline acquisitions, most notably Marcus Johansson. Johansson has provided that compliment to Matt Boldy that he has missed with the departure of Kevin Fiala.
Now Boldy has a speedy winger who sees the ice well and fits perfectly with Matt's skill set and Joel Eriksson Ek. Boldy is shooting more as Guerin had wanted, and now those shots are c9ming from higher percentage areas of the ice.
Two hattricks in five games for Boldy and nine goals in the last five games, has #12 looking like a lock for 30 goals in his first full NHL season. His $7M per season for the next 7 years could become the greatest bargain of Guerin's tenure as Wild GM.
The confidence this tight knit Wild group is developing can only be looked at as a positive as they March toward the playoffs.
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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