Around the NHL: Kaprizov to miss time, Pacioretty nears return

The Minnesota Wild will be without two important players to begin 2024.

On Monday the club placed goaltender Filip Gustavsson on injured reserve and Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Gustavsson will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of his injury. Additionally, Russo reports that star scorer Kiril Karpizov will miss 1-2 weeks with his injury.

Both players were injured in Saturday’s loss to the Jets and both missed Sunday’s rematch.

Kaprizov’s lower-body injury came on a cross-check from the Jets’ Brendan Dillon. Gustavsson left the game in the second intermission with his own lower-body injury.

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Washington Capitals

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery opened the New Year with a long list of injury updates.

Most notable, Carbery said veteran forward Max Pacioretty could make his Capitals debut later this week, possibly Wednesday against the Devils in the second game of a back-to-back.

Pacioretty tore his Achilles tendon in the 2022 off-season, weeks after being acquired by the Carolina Hurricanes. He returned for five games in January of 2023 but suffered a new tear that ended his season. The six-time 30-goal scorer then joined the Capitals as a free agent.

Other Capitals updates from Carbery include:

• Rising star Martin Fehérváry could return Tuesday after missing one game with an upper-body injury. If he does return, veteran Nicklas Jensen would sit as a healthy scratch.

• Forwards Sonny Milano and T.J. Oshie will go on IR and Carbery said the latest updates on their conditions were “not positive.” Oshie has missed seven games with a lower-body injury while Milano has missed nine with an upper-body injury.

• Goaltender Charlie Lindgren is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will miss at least two more games. Lindgren was injured in Friday’s game against the Islanders.