Kaprizov's Injury Gives Wild Opportunity To Flip A Lot Of Narratives In Dallas

Despite losing five of six games before beating the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, the Minnesota Wild have 21 wins. Now, do they have any signature wins? That's debatable. Getting back-to-back wins at the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning is impressive, and so is taking down the Edmonton Oilers on the road.

But despite some feathers in their cap, the Wild fanbase is still looking for a win to convince them to buy in on the team.

That's the opportunity the Wild have going up against the Dallas Stars in American Airlines Arena tonight. Since Minnesota's Game 1 double-overtime win in the 2023 playoffs, the Stars have taken nine of their last 10 head-to-head matchups by a combined score of 40-17. Humiliations have been a-plenty, with Dallas torching Marc-Andre Fleury for seven and eight goals over that stretch and giving Jesper Wallstedt a rude awakening in his NHL debut by hanging seven more on him.

Fans have their theories about why this has happened. The Wild are too small to handle the 12th-biggest team in the league. They can't match the Stars' center depth. Minnesota's goaltending isn't up to snuff against a collection of the best shooters in the league.

Minnesota showed some compete in a 2-1 loss on November 16, but putting that game in the L column won't convince anyone. A win tonight might be a good start. Just one problem.

But you know what? All the better. Minnesota might have been reeling in the wake of all their injuries, but they have a chance to flip the script in Dallas... and not just on their recent history. 

The Wild have been the definition of a one-man team this season. The injured Kirill Kaprizov is making an MVP run this season, being on the ice for 61 of Minnesota's 103 goals, registering a point on 50 of them, and scoring 23 personally. You can't argue that he's not been the primary engine driving the team, and the Wild could put up 12 goals on Dallas, and that won't change.

But Minnesota has a shot to prove they can defeat an elite team without him. Matt Boldy's on a slump with three points (one goal) in his last nine contests. But he'll have top-line duty with Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello, so he can get back on track and re-position himself as the bonafide second punch after Kaprizov.

It goes beyond Boldy, though. Three other lines of (theoretical) secondary scoring options haven't been scoring. So far, the book on them is that without Joel Eriksson Ek, they haven't been able to hold up the end of their bargain. No one has disproven that. But with Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov out? They can also make a statement tonight.

And, of course, Eriksson Ek being out means Rossi is the big dog going out against centers Roope Hintz, Matt Duchene, Wyatt Johnston, and Jamie Benn. All four of them have at least four inches on the 5-foot-9 Rossi. However, Rossi's been doing little else but flipping the script on the narratives around him, and getting a win while short-handed against Dallas would be the cherry on top.

We could keep going down the line. A defense missing its biggest member, Jake Middleton, can bottle up a big group of Dallas forwards. Filip Gustavsson can keep putting his disastrous 2023-24 season behind him. The Wild can finally get the better of a top Central Division opponent, which has been their biggest hurdle for the past few years. Whatever narrative prevents Wild fans from buying into their start, Minnesota has a golden opportunity to dispel it, even with all the stuff working against them.