Minnesota fell back on depth, defense and Filip Gustavsson’s goaltending and improved its NHL-best road record.

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

Kaprizov had a couple scoring chances for the Wild (28-16-4), who were delighted to get their superstar back after he missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury. Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for Utah (21-19-7) in what was just their second shutout win of the season.

The Minnesota Wild have the league's best road record at 18-5-3 this season and have already beat the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this season

Still, the Wild simply do not have a player who is capable of replicating Kaprizov’s dynamic play with the puck, which has taken him to the top of the team’s scoring charts despite missing a month of the season already with a lower-body injury scheduled to be surgically repaired this week.

Wild general manager Bill Guerin announced on Tuesday that Kaprizov is being shut down for the time being to have surgery and repair the lower body injury that has allowed the team’s top scorer to play in just three games since Christmas.

The Minnesota Wild took down the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, 3-1.

Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon returning ... but it turned into a tough evening for the Wild at Xcel Energy Center. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson struggled and Minnesota's offense couldn't ...

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.

MTL: Slafkovsky has registered three goals and two assists in his last five outings. Along with his linemates Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, the trio have combined for 10 points over their last two games.

The Wild are also missing crucial players in Kirill Kaprizov and Jonas Brodin. The former has played at a Hart Trophy level this season while the latter is one of the best defenders in the sport and would be a top candidate to try and slow Laine down.