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.

Wild GM Bill Guerin said Tuesday Kirill Kaprizov needs surgery on a lower body injury and is out at least four weeks.

Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov needs surgery on the lingering lower-body injury he recently returned from and will be sidelined for at least a month.

Despite Thursday’s tough outcome, Wild players were thrilled to have their captain and star forward back in the lineup.

Kaprizov (lower body) will be back in the lineup versus Utah on Thursday, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. Kaprizov will return to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 23 against Chicago, a stretch of 12 games on long-term injured reserve.

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.

Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes said he is "cautiously optimistic" that star forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon will return to the lineup against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday.

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.

Wild scoring leader Kirill Kaprizov will be out week-to-week with surgery planned for a lower-body injury. The team’s scoring leader has played the past three games at less full strength. He had sat out 12 games before coming back last Thursday against Utah.

Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic are reporting that Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov could require surgery. The superstar recently returned after missing time and has played in three games since his attempted comeback on January 23 against Utah.

It wasn’t too long ago that Kaprizov was viewed by many as the frontrunner for the Hart Trophy. The pace he was on is best illustrated by the fact the he still leads the Wild with 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists) despite missing so much time.