Wild practices without day-to-day Kirill Kaprizov. Will Sunday be that day?

The Wild proved they could win without Kirill Kaprizov, and that might continue to be their challenge.

Kaprizov didn’t practice Saturday at Tria Rink in St. Paul when the Wild reconvened after returning from Dallas, where they rallied to win 3-2 in overtime the previous night. It was their first two-goal, third-period comeback of the season, and Kaprizov missed it because of a lower-body injury.

He’s considered day-to-day, with President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin making clear this isn’t a long-term, serious issue for Kaprizov but rather a lingering problem that’s being addressed to make sure “things are OK for the long run.”

A first-half MVP contender, Kaprizov leads the Wild in goals (23), assists (27) and points (50), and his absence was noticeable against the Stars until the third period, when the Wild scored twice in 57 seconds to set up Brock Faber’s first career overtime goal.

Still, the team’s 18 shots overall tied its season low, and how the Wild will sustain their offense while Kaprizov is on the mend will be a question they’ll have to answer for as long as Kaprizov is sidelined.

“We play smart defensively first, and we create our chances from that,” Frederick Gaudreau said. “I don’t think it’s time because one guy’s out that you overthink everything. We all know he’s important. He’s special, and he creates a lot for the team every time he’s on the ice.

“But that’s him. We can’t try to play like him. We just gotta play our game and focus on what we all have to do.”

Although shots were lopsided in favor of Dallas, the Wild weren’t in as much trouble defensively as the disparity might have suggested.

The Stars’ two goals came off the rush, their bread and butter.

“It’s only two shots away,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said. “It’s very tight.”

While the Wild weren’t testing Dallas a ton, they were attacking the way they needed to, namely getting to the inside, which is a tall order against the Stars because of the way they collapse down low in their defensive zone.

Key for the Wild was that even though they weren’t capitalizing, they continued to vie to get to the front of the net. That’s ultimately how they closed the gap; Jonas Brodin buried a cross-zone pass from Mats Zuccarello, and Marcus Foligno tipped in a shot by captain Jared Spurgeon. (Foligno also had five hits to become the Wild’s all-time leader at 1,459.)

Even Faber’s game-winner, a wraparound, was a play at the crease.

By the end of the game, each side had only two Grade-A chances, coach John Hynes said.

“They blocked shots. Sometimes they were in good defensive position. Sometimes we missed the net. Sometimes we left some plays out there, but we didn’t veer off of what was going to work,” Hynes explained. “Maybe a team is great defensively for a period or for a period and a half, but eventually something’s going to break if you stay with what should work in that game.

“I thought we did a nice job of that [Friday] night, and it was good to see us get rewarded for it.”

Their victory, however, was also sponsored by the penalty kill, its 3-for-3 performance preventing the Stars from running away.

Gaudreau won all three shorthanded faceoffs he took, the Wild didn’t give up easy entries or setups, and they received blocks (from Gustavsson and their penalty killers) when they needed them.

“It’s just momentum,” Gaudreau said. “It’s confidence, feeling in tune together.”

Really, the Wild’s formula for success — timely goals combined with clutch defensive stops — was the same method they relied on early in the season when they rarely lost.

Without Kaprizov, the execution might have looked different, but the result was a familiar outcome from the Wild’s desired system.

“When you have a player of Kirill’s caliber, he does things that other players can’t do,” Hynes said. “So, when you miss a player like that, some of his individual abilities and the ways that he can generate offense, the way that he is, you don’t have that. But you don’t try to replicate that: It’s more you want to have a team game. The guys that are in the lineup have to be able to play to their skill sets.”

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Wild update: C Joel Eriksson Ek practiced Saturday and is expected to return either against the Senators or Tuesday vs. the Predators when the Wild wrap up their homestand. Eriksson Ek has missed the past 11 games with a lower-body injury. LW Marcus Johansson (maintenance) didn’t practice Saturday, but coach John Hynes said he thought Johansson would play Sunday.

Senators update: This is the Senators’ sixth of nine consecutive road games while Ottawa hosts the world junior championship. The Senators started this lengthy road stretch with three victories before losing to the Oilers ahead of the holiday pause. That ended a six-game win streak, their longest of the season. They lost again Saturday night, 4-2 at Winnipeg in their return from the break. Ottawa is 2-2-1 in the second half of back-to-backs.

Injuries: Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) is day-to-day. LW Jakub Lauko (lower body) and D Jake Middleton (upper body) are out. Senators RW Michael Amadio (upper body), G Anton Forsberg (lower body), LW David Perron (upper body), G Linus Ullmark (back) and D Artem Zub (foot) are out.