The Minnesota Wild survived without Kirill Kaprizov the first time, and they can do it again. That’s the message they sent Wednesday, when they upended the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 at Scotiabank Arena to kick off Kaprizov’s second hiatus with their most convincing victory in weeks.

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

That's Wild Kirill Kaprizov was back for the Minnesota Wild for three games, after missing action for a month, but it looks like he will be out for at least another month. Announced by the team on Tuesday,

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Scotiabank Arena TV: Sportsnet Radio: The Fan 590 Odds: Wild +119, Maple Leafs -147 The buzz After winning four in a row from Dec. 31 to Jan. 7, the Wild has lost six of its past nine games,

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Minnesota Wild hit the ice in a non-conference matchup. Toronto is 19-10-0 at home and 30-18-2 overall. The Maple Leafs have a 13-5-1 record when scoring a power-play goal.

Facing another month-plus without their star forward, the Wild set the blueprint for how to win without Kaprizov.

The message, clearly, was received and understood, as Hynes’ team put together a 60-minute effort for its latest in a notable resume of road wins this season. The Wild got a pair of first period goals and played a strong defensive game in a 3-1 win in Toronto, beating the Maple Leafs in regulation for the first time since 2019.

Bet: Blue Jackets Maple Leafs Over 6.0 goals (-120), Auston Matthews anytime goal (-130), Kirill Marchenko Over 0.5 points (-170), Maple Leafs Over 3.5 goals (-130) The Leafs started off the ...

With the 4 Nations Face-Off only a few weeks away, Toronto might want to keep Auston Matthews away, and given there's no real punishment for it, he should agree. Though it wasn't a surprise to see ...

The Minnesota Wild placed their top-scoring contributor on LTIR on Friday in Kirill Kaprizov because of an aggravated lower-body injury. Minnesota has been one of the NHL's biggest surprises in ...

Travel more. Spend less. Enjoy up to 50% off hotel accommodations. When: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Scotiabank Arena

Our updated fantasy hockey rankings sees movement in the top 250, with Nikita Kucherov and Auston Matthews battling for the top spot.