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.

The Wild were shutout at home 4-0 against the Utah Hockey Club. Despite each playing for more than 15 minutes on the ice, neither superstar had much of an impact on the game, Kaprizov only had 3 shots on goal, and Spurgeon with 0. The team in total had 26 shots on goal, and all were saved by Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka.

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

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.