The Minnesota Wild are trying to hang onto their spot near the top of the NHL standings, and on Friday they revealed the reinforcements are on the way.

Without Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota played a smart, poised and gutsy game, pulling away in the third for a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena.

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.

The Minnesota Wild announced on Thursday that the team has activated forward Kirill Kaprizov and captain Jared Spurgeon from Injured Reserve. Both will play in the game tonight versus the Utah Hockey Club.

Minnesota held a practice back home in St. Paul on Tuesday. Faber and Kaprizov did not practice with the team but they did skate on their own. Spurgeon and Lauko also skated on their own. Brodin has yet to skate. The Wild host the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow. It doesn't sound like either of the five injured Wild players will play.

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.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes is "cautiously optimistic" that star forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon will be in the lineup on Thursday.

The Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames met for the second time this season on Saturday evening, Jan. 25, and both teams were on the first game of back-to-backs.

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

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,

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon were back in the Minnesota Wild lineup Thursday night, but it didn’t give them the spark they had hoped for in a 4-0 loss to the Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center.