The Minnesota Wild have been without two of the most important pieces in their lineup for multiple weeks, but that could soon be on the verge of changing. Forward Kirill Kaprizov, who has missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury,

Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes expressed his frustration regarding the referee's explanation following a controversial no-call on Connor McDavid's elbow to Marcus Johansson on Wednesday.

The Wild are now 3-1-1 in early starts following the Martin Luther King Jr. Day afternoon game in Colorado, a 3-1 win for Minnesota.

ST PAUL, Minn. — With a win on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche, the Minnesota Wild are off to a good start this season. Joe O'Donnell, a radio play-by-play announcer, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to break down the team's success.

The defenseman scored his first goal for Minnesota against Nashville and is sticking to his plan to “go day by day.”

Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek smiled when asked about two of his longtime teammates returning from injuries this week.

Superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice on Wednesday. Head coach John Hynes told reporters he's "cautiously optimistic" that both will play in their upcoming game against the Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild's Kirill Kaprizov is expected to play Thursday after a longer-than-expected break for injury. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

And the clearest signal that Kaprizov and Spurgeon would be back is that the Wild reassigned defenseman David Jiricek two hours after practice. If you did the salary cap math, it really was the only option to get below the cap ceiling once Kaprizov is activated from LTIR.

The Minnesota Wild host the Utah Hockey Club Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center, and could be getting two of their best players back from injury. Forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon were on the ice with the team at practice on Wednesday at TRIA Rink.

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