Kaprizov has missed the past 10 games with a lower-body injury that has required lots of treatments and pushed-back timetables.

Jared Spurgeon and Marat Khusnutdinov scored in the first period, Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 shots, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Wednesday night. Marcus Foligno added an empty-netter in the final minute as Minnesota won its second straight to improve to 3-5-0 in their last eight games.

The Wild had their best player back for the first time in a month, but they didn’t play like it. Kirill Kaprizov’s return was spoiled by a 4-0 shellacking from Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center that continued the Wild’s woes at home.

Joel Eriksson Ek tipped in Kirill Kaprizov’s pass during a four-minute ... Frank Nazar cut the deficit to 3-2. Marcus Foligno secured the win for the Wild with an empty-net goal at 18:18.

Facing another month-plus without their star forward, the Wild set the blueprint for how to win without Kaprizov.

Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes provided injury updates Friday, Brock Faber will travel with the team this weekend, Kirill Kaprizov will not.

Filip Gustavsson made 31 saves as the Minnesota Wild edged Toronto 3-1 on Wednesday, sending the Maple Leafs to a third straight regulation loss.

Their lineup got a big boost Thursday when star Kirill Kaprizov ... game and left wing Marcus Johansson (concussion) for the third game in a row. Against Utah, Kaprizov had three shots on goal ...

Wild star Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon were activated from injured reserve Thursday and played in the team's 4-0 loss to Utah.

The Wild survived without Kirill Kaprizov the first time, and they can do it again. That’s the message they sent Wednesday when they upended the Maple Leafs 3-1 at Scotiabank Arena to kick off Kaprizov’s second hiatus with a statement victory.

The Minnesota Wild survived without Kirill Kaprizov the first time, and they can do it again. That’s the message they sent Wednesday, when they upended the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 at Scotiabank Arena to kick off Kaprizov’s second hiatus with their most convincing victory in weeks.

Filip Gustavsson made 31 saves as the Minnesota Wild edged Toronto 3-1 on Wednesday, sending the Maple Leafs to a third straight regulation loss.