Wild suddenly reeling after string of injuries brings on losing streak

The Wild's injury list has grown the same way a model franchise is built.

Start with a top-pairing defenseman. Pick up a playmaker. Can't forget a goalie, not to mention a point-per-game scorer. Then bring in a two-way specialist.

Looks like the start of a winning lineup, or in the Wild's case, a group they can't win without.

Since Filip Gustavsson and Kirill Kaprizov joined Jonas Brodin and Mats Zuccarello as onlookers, the Wild have dropped three in a row: Their 3-1 loss to Calgary on Tuesday that was also missing Marcus Foligno signaled their longest drought under coach John Hynes.

That means the team has been stuck at 36 points for a week, the first time they've stalled since rejoining the Western Conference playoff race.

But their progress could be all for nothing if the Wild, who play host to Tampa Bay on Thursday, don't begin to mend their record while they mend their health.

"We're not faltering at all in our belief of what we have going here," defenseman Jake Middleton said.

Already for almost a month they've been without Brodin, who suffered an upper-body injury after getting crushed into the boards on Dec. 8 at Edmonton. The defenseman still hasn't resumed skating.

Two weeks ago, Zuccarello was sidelined with his own upper-body injury. He was the team's leading scorer when he exited the lineup and although they initially stumbled without him, the Wild rediscovered the resilience they had after Brodin was hurt and were on a 7-1 run after the holiday break.

Fast forward to last Saturday, and the Wild were down two more key players in a matter of minutes.

Gustavsson left after two periods against Winnipeg, the goalie out with a lower-body injury, and Kaprizov, now the team's scoring leader, was gone halfway through the third due to an upper-body injury. Both are considered week-to-week.

Not only did the Wild lose that game, but they also came up short in the rematch on Sunday before another defeat on Tuesday. Foligno was a game-time decision for that matchup vs. the Flames but in the afternoon, the Wild shifted Vinni Lettieri (lower body) to injured reserve and called up Sammy Walker to give them enough forwards for the evening. Foligno has a lingering lower-body issue.

Captain Jared Spurgeon landed on injured reserve with the same lower-body injury that recently put him out of commission for seven games. Kaprizov also went on injured reserve, the two joining Brodin, Gustavsson, Lettieri and Zuccarello. The Wild recalled defenseman Daemon Hunt from Iowa in the American Hockey League.

"For sure they're leaders on our team," center Joel Eriksson Ek said. "But we can't really focus on that. We have to focus on what we have and play our best to win games."

The makeshift lineup that faced Calgary was ultimately sunk by a slow start in which the Wild surrendered two first-period goals, but they were better as time went on.

What they needed to complete their comeback was execution, and that's what emphasized the injury absences.

Kaprizov has 34 points in 34 games, and the winger was on a six-game point streak before getting hurt.

In that sense, the game felt like an omen of what could be in store for the Wild if these injuries sabotage their improvement: good tries but bad results.

But that wasn't the vibe given off by the players.

"You can't hang your head in this league," winger Pat Maroon said. "There's going to be ebbs and flows in this league a lot. There's going to be ups and downs. There's going to be times where you think you should have won a game, but you lose. There's times where you win a game that you should have lost.

"Can't hang our heads now. We're still in the playoff hunt. There's still a lot of hockey to be played."