Like the rest of the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov got off to a slow start this season, which sounds a little odd considering he had 18 points in the first 19 games. But he had only six goals and sometimes looked a little lost, finishing that stretch a minus-9.

Kaprizov was coming back from a serious hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of the last month of the 2022-23 regular season, and limited him to one point in a six-game, first-round playoff loss to St. Louis.

Whatever was bothering him, Kaprizov didn’t want to talk about it. Asked before a game Dec. 7 in Vancouver if he felt limited in any way, Kaprizov — with help from teammate Mats Zuccarello — mostly avoided the question before finally saying, “No, I’m OK.”

Whatever the reason, Kaprizov has found his game since. Heading into Tuesday night’s 8:30 p.m. puck drop at Colorado, he has 35 goals and 71 points — and is a plus-24 — in 51 games since John Hynes became coach on Nov. 28.

With two goals in the Wild’s 4-0 victory at Chicago on Sunday, Kaprizov became the first player in franchise history with three 40-goal seasons and now has 41 with five regular-season games remaining. With his team all but eliminated from playoff contention — a Wild loss or Vegas win would seal it — it’s a bittersweet accomplishment.

Kaprizov, 26, twice played in the championship for Russia’s elite Kontinental Hockey League and hasn’t missed the postseason since his first two seasons in the KHL with his hometown Metallurg Novokuznetsk in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

“It’s always tough. It’s not fun (to) just finish season early after regular season,” he said this week. “It’s where we are now. (We’ll) take some learnings and keep going next season, and this year we still have a couple games.”

Kaprizov takes a seven-game points streak into Denver (5-7–12) and leads the Wild with 41 goals and 89 points. He had two goals and an assist against the Blackhawks on Sunday, his 10th three-point game of the season. If that doesn’t tell you what he means to the Wild, look at the first two weeks of January.

While Kaprizov was sidelined by a rib injury suffered Dec. 30 in Winnipeg, the Wild were 1-6-0 and outscored 25-11. Before he was hurt, the Wild had won 7 of 8 games and pulled within three points of a playoff spot. Without him, they fell to 13th in the Western Conference and six points out.

The Wild found their bearings but never fully recovered.

Kaprizov’s injury wasn’t the only one to bedevil the Wild this season. Captain Jared Spurgeon played only 16 games before having season-ending surgery on his hip and back, and big guns such as Mats Zuccarello, Jonas Brodin, Marcus Foligno, Matt Boldy and Filip Gustavsson all missed significant time.

“It’s a tough season because it was a lot of injuries,” Kaprizov said. “I don’t play a couple, Zuccy don’t play, (Foligno) don’t play, Spurgey, Gus. You know, everyone just a little bit here, a little bit here. A couple guys were a little bit longer in injury. If I score goals, I try not to think about this. (I) just try to show my best every game, and that’s it.”

Since Hynes became coach on Nov. 28, the Wild are 32-20-6 — and 31-14-6 with Kaprizov in the lineup. After scoring four goals in his past two games, Kaprizov ranks fifth in NHL goals over the past three years dating to April 8, 2023.

Not bad for a fifth-round pick in the 2015 entry draft. The four players ahead of him — Toronto’s Auston Matthews (177), Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (156), Boston David Pastrnak (149) and the Oilers’ Connor McDavid (142) — were all first-round picks, and three of them were top-three picks.

“To be in that company, he’s obviously elite in the league,” Hynes told reporters after Sunday’s game. “I still look at Kirill (and) think the upside for him in the next couple years is going to be really impressive, just as he continues to mature, gain confidence.

“His ceiling is pretty high, and I think over the next couple years, we’re going to see that.”

Baaaaad Company

Kirill Kaprizov scored two goals Sunday and became the first Wild player to score 40 goals in three seasons . Since April 8, 2021, the Wild winger has been one of the NHL’s top five goal-scorers:

Player                     Team           G       GP     Pts.
Auston Matthews    Toronto        177    237    309
Leon Draisaitl          Edmonton   156    252    363
David Pastrnak        Boston        152    251    313
Connor McDavid     Edmonton   149    252    443
Kirill Kaprizov          Wild            139    235    289

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I hate to call “The First Omen” unexpectedly well-crafted and a little bit surprising, even. But for an essentially unnecessary prequel to “The Omen,” the 1976 hit about one satanically-minded child, two unfortunate parents and three sixes, its virtues point to an auspicious feature debut from director and co-writer Arkasha Stevenson, a former Los Angeles Times photojournalist with an eye for sinister beauty.

That word “unexpected” doesn’t speak well of my occasional pre-judginess. I try not to pre-judge any movie, except an Eli Roth movie, and look where that got me: “Thanksgiving” turned out to be worthwhile! In a more considered vein, so has “The First Omen,” full of splurchy callbacks to various hangings, impalings and characters from the Richard Donner hit but with a visual confidence and personality of its own.

Rome doesn’t hurt, although in “The First Omen” it certainly doesn’t help young Margaret (Nell Tiger Free of the M. Night Shyamalan Showtime series “Servant”). An American with a troubled childhood, she’s a novitiate soon to take the veil thanks to her American sponsor, the high-ranking cardinal played by Bill Nighy. Much of the narrative, written by Stevenson, Tim Smith and Keith Thomas, unfolds in the confines of the orphanage to which Margaret has been assigned. The fearsome and very obviously secretive Sister Silva runs the place, and with that role taken by the great, gravel-voiced Sonia Braga, and with the disgraced Irish priest (introduced in the first “Omen”) played by Ralph Ineson, that’s a helluva pair of basso profundo voices, nicely suited to unholy menace.

The story’s 1971 setting introduces a host of societal upheavals that have hurt church attendance worldwide. Without giving the game away, “The First Omen” imagines what a powerful subset of Catholic leadership might resort to in order to get lapsed believers back into the pews and praying for their lives. Haunted by visions of demons, Margaret keeps an eye on the orphanage’s designated problem child, Carlita (Nicole Sorace), a similarly plagued loner. Is she the devil’s child?

“The First Omen” underwent some trims involving graphic footage of childbirth, of a sort, filmed forthrightly by director Stevenson but in ways, at least as recut to avoid an NC-17 rating, that aren’t the usual sort of horror movie fodder. Never mind the double standard: I’ve seen far more disgusting screen violence in R-rated movies made by men, in male-driven stories. Gynecological body horror remains a final frontier for some viewers. Roman Polanski did a lot with inference and suggestion in “Rosemary’s Baby,” five years before “The Exorcist” married crassness with piety and made a dubiously influential fortune.

“The First Omen” hardly qualifies for landmark or pantheon status. But it’s a movie that maximizes all its elements with some panache. Stevenson, editors Amy E. Duddleston and Bob Murawski and cinematographer Aaron Morton save the explicit gore for crucial sequences. Not everything tracks or comes together in “The First Omen”: Father Brennan’s expository dump regarding the church’s plans to retain power feels rushed and confused; some of the narrative and visual references to the ’76 film don’t do much for the one we’re watching. Even so, it’s a pretty tense experience.

It also has an off-center way into the main narrative, involving Margaret’s initiation, before taking the veil, into Rome’s nightlife. Her impishly sexy roommate and novitiate plays host and Maria Caballero, who plays her, is spectacularly expressive in close-up. As Margaret, Free works more unassumingly, but effectively, and there’s a pretty stunning moment when she undergoes a physical transformation (certainly mostly) without any digital effects assistance. It’s a long take, without cutting for shock emphasis. It works. And that kind of directorial instinct is most welcome.

“The First Omen” — 3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for violent content, grisly/disturbing images, and brief graphic nudity)

Running time: 2:00

How to watch: Premieres in theaters April 4

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

 

When Corbb O’Connor’s school-age son has a medical appointment, he has two choices as a visually-impaired parent — a 20-minute ride in a ridesharing vehicle like Uber, or a nearly two-hour trip on public transit in each direction to transport his child to and from school.

If Uber leaves the market, “my life’s not going to be over with,” said O’Connor, a Highland Park resident and president of the National Federation for the Blind. Still, “that’s a whole day off.”

With Uber threatening to roll out of the Twin Cities metro on May 1, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey joined dozens of representatives of the hospitality industry and advocates for the elderly and disabled on Monday to urge the Minneapolis City Council to compromise on recently-mandated wage increases. “When we do this policy, we have to do it right,” Frey said. “These decisions have consequences.”

The Minneapolis council could take up a reconsideration vote on Thursday, the results of which may have deep implications for St. Paul and the eastern suburbs.

Impact of losing rideshare services

Uber has said that unless the wage increases are overturned, the company will pull out of the metro area entirely next month, which would be a particularly hard blow to restaurants and concert-goers, sports fans and members of the disability community, who in many cases rely on ride-hailing apps to access medical appointments and other services.

Lyft, the other major player in the ride-hailing market, has said it will maintain drivers in the Twin Cities after May 1, without completing trips that begin or end in Minneapolis.

Among more than 50 attendees at Frey’s press event in downtown Minneapolis on Monday was Jonathan Weinhagen, president and chief executive officer of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, who said he’s receiving questions from major event planners and site selectors on a daily basis.

Some have told him they’ll likely focus instead on Indianapolis, Austin, Texas, Boston and other competing markets until the transportation turmoil settles down.

“We’re being told we may not be considered: ‘You’re being taken off the shortlist,’” he said.

Concerns about visitor confusion and the potential impact on concerts, conventions and sporting events were echoed by officials with the Metropolitan Airports Commission, Hospitality Minnesota and the Intercontinental Hotel, as well as counterparts across the Mississippi River.

“This is an unfortunate example of local government action having negative implications outside its borders,” said B Kyle, president and chief executive officer of the St. Paul Area Chamber, in a written statement on Monday. “I hope the Minneapolis City Council will compromise before May 1, but if they do not, the state should step in. As we work to revitalize downtown St. Paul, we can’t allow these fantastic destinations — from the Science Museum to the Ordway to Wild and Saints games — to become more difficult to access.”

Compromise

Frey said he has presented the Minneapolis council with a range of wage options based on a new state study that found that raising wages to $1.20 per mile and $0.34 per minute would bring driver earnings in line with the Minneapolis citywide minimum wage of $15.57 per hour while also covering added benefits.

Lyft, in a recent letter to the Minneapolis City Council, has said it was open to compromise at an even lower level outlined in the study — $0.89 per mile and $0.49 per minute — which would cover the minimum wage and expenses like vehicle maintenance. The Minneapolis council last month overrode Frey’s veto and stuck to newly-adopted minimums of $1.40 per mile, $0.51 per minute.

“It wasn’t close,” said Frey on Monday. A call to Minneapolis Council President Elliott Payne was not immediately returned on Monday.

“The mayor has been clear and consistent in his push to both increase driver pay and ensure rideshare services continue operating in Minneapolis,” reads a written statement from Frey’s office. “The mayor would support a rate of pay increase in line with the recently released statewide study and is asking the city council to send him an ordinance that he can sign into law – one that reflects the data in the state’s study.”

Some skeptics believe the two ridesharing companies are bluffing and are unlikely to roll out of Minneapolis, which is likely their largest Midwest market after Chicago. However, the companies once pulled out of Austin, Texas for a year until the state governor stepped in to create uniform statewide rules around driver credentials.

Lyft, Uber alternatives

A handful of start-up ridesharing companies, including some that have established a footprint in other states, are gearing up to offer services in Minneapolis and St. Paul, but Frey noted it’s unlikely that any of them will soon bring the volume of Uber and Lyft, which employed some 8,000 drivers in the metro.

And, finding drivers may be the easy part. Uber and Lyft built up their services over more than a decade, getting around language barriers and other uncertainties of the traditional cab industry with state-of-the-art satellite mapping technology, driver rating systems, driver background checks, contactless payment and other consumer guarantees.

None of that has come cheap. As of December, Uber is said to have more than $9 billion in debt on its balance sheet, according to industry analysts.

O’Connor, of the National Federation for the Blind, noted that unlike Uber and Lyft, some start-up rideshare apps have been developed without input from the blind and disabled, and without sufficient testing, making them incompatible with smartphone apps for the visually impaired.

Among possible new entries into the Twin Cities market, a Woodbury entrepreneur hopes to launch MOOV, and the chief executive officer of Austin, Texas-based Wridz said his company will roll into the market, whether Uber and Lyft depart or not.

Driver-owned platform

A coalition of drivers has formed the Minnesota Uber-Lyft Driver Association, which is using online fundraising to launch a driver-owned rideshare platform with support from the team that built Co-op Ride in New York City.

“Let Uber and Lyft leave,” reads a statement from the association, which announced on Saturday it had signed up more than 1,500 drivers in the previous week.

“At this point the major barrier is funds,” wrote labor organizer and co-founder Erik Forman, in an email to supporters this weekend. “If we can get to $35k in donations, I think we can inspire foundations or investors to provide the rest of what we need.”

In an interview last month, Randy Wang, founder of San Francisco-based Wingz, said his company had not previously considered the Twin Cities market. Wingz, which launched in California as an airport service, has transitioned to the “NEMT” market — non-emergency medical transportation — focused on bringing customers to and from medical appointments, often backed by Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Wingz, which has a sizable presence in Georgia’s NEMT market, plans to expand into Arkansas and Tennessee.

“These would all be on the medical side, exclusively,” Wang said. “Minnesota hasn’t been on our radar, but we’re definitely eyeing the news. If we had to meet the new requirements, we probably could pull it off, but haven’t really looked into it yet.”

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