The Wild's Kirill Kaprizov is expected to play Thursday after a longer-than-expected break for injury. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The team’s leading scorer didn’t talk about his lower-body injury after morning skate as the team prepared for tonight’s game against Utah.

Wild star Kirill Kaprizov is back in action. After missing the past 12 games with a lower-body injury that popped up after the holiday break, Kaprizov was set to make his highly anticipated return on Thursday night against Utah at Xcel Energy Center.

The Minnesota Wild are trying to stay atop the West, a mission that will be easier if Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon return Thursday.

Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season, Barrett Hayton scored twice and Utah beat the Minnesota Wild 4-0 on Thursday night for its third straight victory.

While Kaprizov could be back this week, Wild coach John Hynes did not "want to put a timeline" on his potential return, according to Smith, but added the fact Kaprizov is skating every day and continuing to do more and more each day is "a good sign." There are signs Minnesota could be gearing up to have some players return soon.

Kirill Kaprizov will return to the lineup for the Minnesota Wild against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). The forward has missed the past 12 games because of a lower-body injury that was considered day to day.

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.

Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) was placed on the Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR), Marcus Johansson (concussion) was placed on the Injured Reserve, Ben Jones was sent to Iowa, Jakub Lauko (lower body) was activated off LTIR and Brendan Gaunce, Liam Ohgren, and Devin Shore were recalled.

Leading Wild goal scorer Kirill Kaprizov has missed multiple games with a lower-body injury, but his return could be imminent.

As per Michael Russo, the Minnesota Wild are set to activate Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon from the injured reserve and long-term injured reserve.