Case in point: Sunday’s goal in Vegas. He was on a two-on-one with Freddy Gaudreau. Hartman appeared to look over to Gaudreau as if to pass, but then he fired a great wrist shot and beat goalie Adin Hill glove-side.

The buzz continued when Jakub Lauko followed him, and it got notably louder when Kirill Kaprizov joined the party ... As an example, Hynes in recent days has praised veteran forward Ryan Hartman, who had a mind-boggling run of zero points in an 18-game ...

The Wild needed that one. Still missing Kirill Kaprizov and a few other key players due to injuries, Minnesota went into Denver and beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday afternoon, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process.

Without Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota played a smart, poised and gutsy game, pulling away in the third for a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena.

Kaprizov (lower body) will be back in the lineup versus Utah on Thursday, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. Kaprizov will return to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 23 against Chicago, a stretch of 12 games on long-term injured reserve.

The Wild fell 4-1 in Vegas, but Gustavsson's play was encouraging. Bill Guerin had an update on Kirill Kaprizov's return.

Star Centre Connor McDavid slapped two goals through the net for the Oilers and hurt a Wild team that was still without left winger Kirill Kaprizov. Minnesota had goals from Matt Boldy, Ryan Hartman and Marco Rossi, but could not overcome the Oilers offense.

Hynes addressed injury concerns involving several key players, including Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber, and Jared Spurgeon. ***Click the video box above to hear full comments from John Hynes ...

Vasily Podkolzin scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Minnesota Wild 5-3 for their seventh win in eight games.

After L'Heureux slew-footed Jared Spurgeon, sidelining the Wild captain, payback was expected in the rematch — and it came early.

The Minnesota Wild (27-15-4) are back in action tonight for one more game on the road before they return home. They will face the Colorado Avalanche (28-18-1) today for a 2:00 p.m. central time start.

DENVER (AP) — Yakov Trenin scored against his former team early in the third period, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday. Jake Middleton had a goal and an assist, Brock Faber also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves for Minnesota.