DENVER – After teaming up on the power play and late in games, Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala were finally neighbors on the same line.
But the assignment Thursday night in Seattle turned out to be temporary.
"We didn't like them together obviously," coach Dean Evason said. "We switched them at the halfway point in the game. They just didn't look right to us, and they weren't doing a lot of the same things that the group was trying to do."
Not only did the partnership fail to spark the Wild in the team's first matchup with the Kraken that finished a 4-1 dud, but it also didn't cure either player's scoring slump.
And as the team has slowed down after a fast start, dropping two of the past three games ahead of its road-trip finale Saturday at Colorado, those struggles are becoming more apparent.
"We want them to contribute the same way we want everybody to contribute, for the better of the team," Evason said. "Hopefully, they're not putting individual goals or points ahead of what we're trying to do as a group because we've had success as a group without some people scoring because everybody is pulling in the right direction.
"So, when you get a little sideways with that, then things don't go right with the end result."
Despite inconsistent contributions from its top players, the Wild isn't in rough shape.
Kaprizov and Fiala have both helped the team debut 5-2, one of the better splits in the NHL.
In the team's first three victories, Kaprizov assisted on five goals — including the game-tying goal and overtime winner in the 6-5 comeback vs. Winnipeg on Oct.19. Fiala also was a factor in those three games, chipping in a goal and two assists.
Lately, though, their impact has diminished.
Although he set up center Ryan Hartman's first-period goal on Thursday, on a slick behind-the-back pass, Kaprizov still hasn't scored. His seven-game drought to start the season is the longest he's gone without a goal in the NHL.
This rut, however, isn't indicative of his chances.
Aside from getting looks on the power play in the third period in Seattle, Kaprizov also had a breakaway near the end of the first that Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer blocked. Overall, the Wild has generated a team-high 81 scoring chances when Kaprizov has been on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.
"He's getting his shots," Hartman said. "He had a breakaway [Thursday]. He got a little hook there and wasn't able to get it clean. But he's there. He's making plays. We're talking to him, and he's just got to keep shooting. He's doing fine."
Fiala also has been around the puck, tying with defenseman Matt Dumba for the team lead in shots with 24, but the execution has been missing and the winger's now gone four straight games without a point.
Considering the Wild isn't at full strength, the opportunity Kaprizov and Fiala have to help the team through this bout of adversity looms large.
Wingers Mats Zuccarello and Rem Pitlick are in the NHL's COVID protocols after testing positive for COVID-19 and will be sidelined for a minimum of 10 days.
And on Friday, the Wild moved winger Jordan Greenway to injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The team recalled forward Adam Beckman and defenseman Calen Addison from the American Hockey League while reassigning defenseman Jon Lizotte to Iowa after he made his NHL debut on Thursday.
Defenseman Alex Goligoski is expected to miss one to two weeks with an upper-body injury, while fellow blue liner Dmitry Kulikov is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
One way to overcome those absences is for the Wild's offensive leaders to produce, in whatever combination they take to the ice.
"It's just pretty simple hockey," center Joel Eriksson Ek said. "It's just shooting, getting to the inside and creating scoring chances and making plays when you have time for making plays."
