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

TORONTO -- Filip Gustavsson made 32 saves for the Minnesota Wild in a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Minnesota Wild scored two first-period goals and got a 31-save effort from Filip Gustavsson to key a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday in Toronto.

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 ...

Kirill Kaprizov has missed 12 of the last 15 games because of a mysterious lower-body injury, and despite logging 22 minutes in Minnesota's 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, and now he's scheduled to undergo surgery.