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.

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 Utah Hockey Club pulled off a great game against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday to begin their three-game road trip, beating them 4-0 to get closer to the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Barrett Hayton scores twice, Karel Vejmelka earns first shutout of season as Utah Hockey Club beats Minnesota, 4-0, for third straight win

Vegas reached the halfway point of its season atop the NHL. The 59 points the Golden Knights recorded through 41 games are their second highest in franchise history, behind only the 60 they posted during their inaugural season.

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.

Spurgeon missed the Wild's last nine games due to his lower-body issue but looks good to go again. In order to activate Spurgeon and Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) off injured reserve, the team needed to send David Jiricek back to the minors.

But Sunday, Jan. 12 NHL action has two of the Western Conference leaders looking ... Neither did defenseman and captain Jared Spurgeon, who was injured Dec. 31 and remains week-to-week.

The Wild are bringing Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon back from injuries as the NHL season reaches the home stretch.

ST PAUL, Minn. — 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. Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse also scored, and defenseman Nick DiSimone assisted on both of Hayton's goals.

Milwaukee Bucks (25-17, fourth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (24-19, sixth in the Western Conference)

JaKobe Coles had 20 points in Grand Canyon's 74-59 victory against Southern Utah on Thursday night. Coles also contributed seven rebounds for the Antelopes (14-5, 4-1 Western Athletic Conference). Duke Brennan added 12 points while finishing 5 of 10 from the floor and also had 13 rebounds.