The weather outside was frightful, with fog and freezing rain making a mess of the roads leading to and from Xcel Energy Center. And inside the rink, there was definitely some slippery, sloppy stuff on the ice as well. But less than 48 hours after being blown out at home, things suddenly look much more optimistic for a Minnesota Wild team that got significantly healthier on Saturday. They rebounded from a loss — as they have done after every loss this season — with a palate-cleansing victory, doing just enough to beat the Flyers, 4-1, in Philadelphia’s only visit to St. Paul this season. A pair of goals from Kirill Kaprizov, and single goals by Matt Bodly and Marco Rossi helped the Wild put a lopsided loss to Edmonton two nights earlier in the rearview mirror. Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves. Coming off their worst loss of the season, a 7-1 drubbing by the Oilers on Thursday, the Wild got much-needed good news when they hit the ice for warmups in their 1978 North Stars-style uniforms, with forward Mats Zuccarello and defenseman Jonas Brodin returning to the lineup. “I think it kind of was the right recipe, to come off a tough loss at home and then everyone’s a little bit ornery and wants to get back at it,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “And then you have those two guys come back in the lineup. I think that also invigorates the group for sure.” Zuccarello had been out since getting hit by a teammate’s shot below the beltline exactly one month earlier and had missed the previous 13 games. Brodin had been dealing with an upper body injury and had not played since a Nov. 25 home game versus Winnipeg. Zucarello made a pretty cross-ice pass to Rossi, setting up the clinching goal in the third period, and Brodin had an assist on the game’s final goal to make their return to the lineup boxscore official. Zuccarello admitted that watching the team win from afar has been exciting, and difficult. “It’s been awesome. Obviously, it’s sucks to be injured, but it really helps when the team wins,” he said. “All the boys are hustling and playing well. Obviously you want to come back, but it’s harder to be an injured when you’re losing. And that was not the case. It was fun to watch. Sucks to watch on TV, but other than that, it’s going good. The team’s going well.” Fleury set the tone early, keeping the Flyers off the board with a highlight reel-quality sweeping glove save after a Wild turnover at the blue line gave Philadelphia star Travis Konecny what briefly looked like a yawning net to hit. Puck luck seemed to favor the home team on this day, as Konecny had another wide open net during a second period Flyers power play, only to have his tap-in glance off a teammate and not over the goal line. Still, there was a bothersome array of soft pass turnovers by the Wild in the opening period, in which their struggling penalty killers had to persevere through two man-advantage situations. Despite those challenges, Kaprizov gave them a first-period lead with his team-leading 19th goal of the season, beating Philadelphia goalie Samuel Ersson with a rising shot from along the goal line that glanced off the goalie’s helmet and in. The other first period crowd-pleaser was Marcus Foligno’s very brief fight with Flyers fourth-liner Garnet Hathaway, which saw the Wild tough guy drop Hathaway to the ice with one left hand roundhouse. Boldy, who has run into penalty trouble recently, was whistled for hooking in the second period, but he emerged from the box of shame unscathed when his teammates got some puck luck to kill the penalty. Then Boldy redeemed himself, scoring his 13th goal of the season on a breakaway after a set-up pass from Brock Faber. It was the 200th career point for Boldy, who is second on the team offensively. Philadelphia’s Travis Sandheim ruined Fleury’s bid for a 76th career shutout when he got a shot through a crowd and past the goalie with under six minutes to play in regulation. Kaprizov’s NHL-best sixth empty-net goal sealed it. Ersson had 19 saves for the Flyers. “It’s not the bounces. We didn’t finish. They finished on their chances. We had some high-quality chances, I think probably more than them. We don’t finish,” said a terse Flyers coach John Tortorella, who made it clear he did not want to talk about Fleury’s early save potentially deflating his team. “I’ve seen it before. I’ve seen it before, and I wish I didn’t see it tonight.” The good news of Brodin and Zuccarello returning was offset by the loss of forward Jakub Lauko, who played a little over three minutes in the opening period, then left the game with a lower body injury. He had missed six of the previous eight games while dealing with a lower body ailment. The Wild next host Vegas on Sunday evening, in their first meeting with the Golden Knights this season. Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov, left, celebrates his goal with center Ben Jones (39) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt) Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) follows the action during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)