Minnesota Gophers coach Bob Motzko likes to say that in college hockey, you get three kicks of the garbage can per season. At the NHL level, Wild coach John Hynes said, you don’t get three.

Minnesota Wild fans no longer want to hear about the injuries that have plagued the team since December. However, Minnesota didn’t immediately win when Jared Spurgeon and Kirill Kaprizov returned to the lineup before Kaprizov’s latest injury.

Forward Yakov Trenin was a healthy scratch for the first time this season, replaced by Drew Shore in the lineup, and defenseman Declan Chisholm — also healthy — sat out for the first time since Nov. 23, replaced by Travis Dermott.

Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes expressed his frustration regarding the referee's explanation following a controversial no-call on Connor McDavid's elbow to Marcus Johansson on Wednesday.

Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes wouldn't make a full proclamation at Wednesday morning's practice, but says he's "cautiously optimistic" Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon will return this week - possible as soon as Thursday's home game against Utah.

PAUL - The Minnesota Wild will be without their star forward Kirill Kaprizov for a good stretch of time. He missed practice on Tuesday after playing in the last three games. He had two assists in those three games but was feeling uncomfortable,

Kirill Kaprizov will have surgery and be out a minimum of four weeks for the Minnesota Wild because of a lower-body injury. “It is not a season-ending injury, but it will put him on the shelf for the next little while,” Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Tuesday. “We’ve been down this road before, and it’s unfortunate.

If Kaprizov has surgery this week for a lower-body injury that has been ailing him since December, he would miss six weeks, per sources.

Being in a U.S. market where hockey is the number one sport in the state, today is another example of why it’s great to be here,” Wild coach John Hynes said.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes is "cautiously optimistic" that star forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon will be in the lineup on Thursday.

On their seventh try, they finally eluded Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek 5 minutes, 43 seconds into the first period when Spurgeon sent the puck past Mrazek’s blocker after a 4-on-2 rush for the Wild. Marco Rossi factored into the play to pick up an assist on the Wild’s past four goals, tying a team record for the second time this season.

"We're choosing to lose," coach John Hynes said after the Wild's woes at home continued with a 5-4 loss to the Flames.