And the clearest signal that Kaprizov and Spurgeon would be back is that the Wild reassigned defenseman David Jiricek two hours after practice. If you did the salary cap math, it really was the only option to get below the cap ceiling once Kaprizov is activated from LTIR.

Andrei Kuzmenko had two goals and an assist, and the Calgary Flames used their power play to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4.

Wild star winger Kirill Kaprizov missed Tuesday’s practice and will undergo surgery to address his nagging lower-body injury, according to Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic. Russo and Smith report the surgery,

Minnesota's Mats Zuccarello has a team-leading 11 points in his last nine games and 17 points in his last 15 matchups versus the Edmonton Oilers

While still holding the best road record in the NHL, Minnesota fell to below .500 at home (11-12-1) with the loss.

Just when things were looking up for Kirill Kaprizov's health, the Minnesota Wild announced that he would be undergoing surgery on Tuesday. The star forward missed practice after talk within the organization as to whether he would need surgery rumbled over the last several days.

The Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames met for the second time this season on Saturday evening, Jan. 25, and both teams were on the first game of back-to-backs.

Andrei Kuzmenko tallied two goals and an assist and the Calgary Flames escaped with a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

BOTTOM LINE: Central Division foes meet when the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Minnesota Wild. Chicago is 4-9-2 against the Central Division and 15-28-5 overall. The Blackhawks are 3-7-4 in one-goal games.

Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson punched Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in the face during a massive scrum at the Wild net in the second period of Saturday night's game at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild held a practice on Wednesday and are set to host the Utah Hockey Club for a game on Thursday night. The Wild have some positive news surrounding the team. Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon were full participants during practice and seem likely to return to the lineup on Thursday.

Clark Bishop made it a three-goal game 11 minutes, 53 seconds into the third period. Then the Wild (28-17-4) tried to make a push. Freddy Gaudreau scored a power-play goal 2 minutes, 22 seconds later to cut it back to two. While Kuzmenko scored his second of the night just 14 seconds later for the apparent dagger, it wasn't quite over.