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.

"I wish I knew. I don’t know. I don’t have a good answer for you," Wild forward Mats Zuccarello said on the home struggles. "We try to play the same way doesn’t matter if you’re home or away. But today especially today I think we gave them a little too much easy offense."

All the Wild had to do was copy and paste the defensive effort that stalled Colorado the previous game. After all, if that strategy was good enough to limit one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NHL to one goal,

The Minnesota Wild, including Mats Zuccarello, will be in action Monday versus the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena, beginning at 3:00 PM ET. Considering a bet on Zuccarello in the Wild-Avalanche game?

Zuccarello posted a power-play assist and two hits in Saturday's 6-2 loss to the Predators.

BOTTOM LINE: Central Division opponents meet when the Minnesota Wild play the Utah Hockey Club. Minnesota has gone 28-15-4 overall with a 10-6-2 record in Central Division play. The Wild are 26-2-2 when scoring three or more goals.

ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild held a practice on Wednesday and are set to host the Utah Hockey Club for a game on Thursday night. The Wild have some positive news surrounding the team. Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon were full participants during practice and seem likely to return to the lineup on Thursday.

Upon his return from injury on Wednesday, Kirill Kaprizov’s teammates said they missed his smile. “It’s really good to have him back,” Kaprizov’s Norwegian bestie, Mats Zuccarello, said after seeing him after Wednesday’s practice.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 36 saves for the visiting Minnesota Wild in a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

Minnesota's Mats Zuccarello has a team-leading 11 points in his last nine games and 17 points in his last 15 matchups versus the Edmonton Oilers

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.

With a little over a minute left in the second period, Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon made the Wild look silly when he deked Trenin and tied the game with his 18th goal of the season. It came on just the Avalanche's 11th shot on goal in two periods.