ST. PAUL -- It's possible the smile hasn't left Tom Gilbert's face since it was announced he was traded yesterday in a deadline deal from Edmonton to Minnesota.

Gilbert, born and raised in the Twin Cities, will make his Wild debut this evening on national television against the Los Angeles Kings. And while the story is definitely of the feel-good variety, none of that will matter once the puck hits the ice. The Wild, winners of three of their last four games, trail the Kings by three points in the ever-tightening Western Conference playoff race, where just six points separate six teams for the final two playoff spots.

But for Gilbert, hitting the ice tonight will probably be the most relaxed he's been over the last 24 hours. After learning of the trade, Gilbert said he spent a couple of hours answering emails and texts before packing and hoping on a plane to get to St. Paul. He arrived early this morning, skated with his new teammates and will now try and glean as much as he can about a new system in the eight hours or so before faceoff.

"It still hasn't sunk in yet," Gilbert said. "I think after this first game, once I get settled, it'll be more of a reality."

Perhaps the only people more excited than Gilbert are his parents Kelly and Mary, who still live in Gilbert's hometown of Bloomington, Minn. -- a short 15-minute drive south of Xcel Energy Center.

"I had called my parents before and warned them that my name was out there and that Minnesota was brought up," Gilbert said. "Obviously, my mom and dad were pretty excited. It took me about an hour and a half after the trade to get a hold of them. I'm sure they were dying to hear from me."

From a hockey standpoint, moving Gilbert for franchise mainstay Nick Schultz -- someone Kings defenseman and former Wild teammate Willie Mitchell said he thought would be a "lifer," -- should help jumpstart Minnesota's lackluster offensive production from the blueline.

"It's a big reason why Tom is here," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "The way we want to play the game, a huge part of that is how our defensemen execute and transition the puck out of our defensive zone and deliver it up to our forwards quickly.

"It's a tough game to play if your defensemen aren't moving the puck well. We defend well, but we spend too much time defending."

Here's tonight's projected lineup for the Wild:

Devin Setoguchi - Kyle Brodziak - Dany Heatley
Cal Clutterbuck - Matt Cullen - Nick Palmieri
Darroll Powe - Erik Christensen - Nick Johnson
Jed Ortmeyer - Warren Peters - Stephane Veilleux

Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon
Tom Gilbert - Justin Falk
Kurtis Foster - Nate Prosser

Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding

ST. PAUL -- With its season potentially on the line tonight against San Jose, Minnesota will have to make a go of it without captain Mikko Koivu, still out with an undisclosed injury.

Koivu, who was not on Minnesota's brief two-game road trip to Florida and Dallas this week, has missed the last four games.

The Wild will also be without defenseman Mike Lundin, who has also missed the last four games with a lower body injury. Both guys skated on their own before the team session this morning, but there is no timetable on either of their returns.

"I know he's getting better, getting closer," said Wild coach Mike Yeo on Koivu.

Niklas Backstrom will start in goal for Minnesota. Defenseman Nate Prosser and forward Matt Kassian are expected to be healthy scratches.

San Jose will be without Douglas Murray (fractured Adam's apple) and Martin Havlat (hamstring), but should otherwise be healthy. The Sharks are playing the final game of a nine-game road trip which has seen San Jose go 2-5-1 and drop out of the top spot in the Pacific Division.

The Sharks, who lost 6-2 in Nashville last night, arrived early this morning and did not skate. With the early face-off tonight and the end of a long road trip in sight, it will be interesting to see how much energy the Sharks have left in the tank.

WILD

Devin Setoguchi - Kyle Brodziak - Dany Heatley
Cal Clutterbuck - Matt Cullen - Nick Palmieri
Darroll Powe - Erik Christensen - Nick Johnson
Jed Ortmeyer - Warren Peters - Stephane Veilleux

Nick Schultz - Greg Zanon
Kurtis Foster - Justin Falk
Jared Spurgeon - Marco Scandella

Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding


SHARKS

Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Ryan Clowe - Logan Couture - Tommy Wingels
Jamie McGinn - Michal Handzus - Torrey Mitchell
Brad Winchester - Andrew Desjardins - Jim Vandermeer

Dan Boyle - Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Jason Demers - Brent Burns
Colin White - Justin Braun

Antti Niemi
Thomas Greiss

ST. PAUL -- Defenseman Kurtis Foster and forward Stephane Veilleux both established themselves as NHL players with the Minnesota Wild.

Following Friday's trade that brought both of them back to the Wild in exchange for defensemen Marek Zidlicky, both say they are excited to be back in a familiar spot and are looking forward to helping Minnesota make one final playoff push.

For Foster, a fan-favorite during his first stint with the Wild, his stop in Minnesota will be his third team this season. After starting the year in Anaheim, the Ducks traded him to New Jersey. He played just nine games on the west coast and only 28 with the Devils.

"You never like being traded," Foster said. "But when you come to a team like this… I've been here, know a lot of the guys, know the city, know how great the fans are, it definitely makes it a lot easier."

Foster and his booming shot will immediately step into Zidlicky's role on the No. 1 power play and will pair with Justin Falk, providing the Wild with a couple of big bodies on the blueline.

"A steady, reliable puck mover, someone who is going to help out our power play," said Wild coach Mike Yeo. "You look at the amount of offense we've been able to generate from the back end this year and certainly he will be a welcome addition."

For Veilleux, his return to the Twin Cities is more personal. His wife is from the area, so he has tried on a couple of occasions to return to Minnesota, but it hasn't worked out. Now 30 years old, Veilleux has spent all but one game with Albany in the AHL this season after playing overseas last year and looks at the move back to the Wild as a chance to get his career back on track.

"Couldn't be happier," Veilleux said. "When I got the call yesterday, it was just a great feeling."

Veilleux scored a career-high 13 goals in 2008-09 with the Wild, his final season in Minnesota, but his role here now isn't to score goals in bunches… although as one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL, the Wild would take it.

"He is full of energy," Yeo said. "His speed is going to be a factor. I'm really anxious to get his energy and his life into our lineup."

ST. PAUL -- The Marek Zidlicky watch is in full effect today at Xcel Energy Center.

The disgruntled defenseman, subject of trade rumors for much of the last 24 hours, skated this morning for the Wild, but will be a healthy scratch tonight against Winnipeg.

It's not to say a trade is imminent, or is even going to happen at this point. But the trade talk has been so thick in the Twin Cities of late that Wild coach Mike Yeo made the decision to sit Zidlicky down tonight -- the fifth time this season he will be scratched.

"All coaching decision," Yeo said. "I don't know what's going on. I don't know what is going to happen. But what I can say is, it's quite obvious that focus-wise, it'd be a tough game for him to go out and perform the way we need him to."

Zidlicky's desire to leave Minnesota became obvious last month when he told Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune of his displeasure about being scratched three games in January. On Wednesday, TSN's Darren Dreger reported Zidlicky had waived his no-trade clause in order to facilitate a trade to New Jersey. Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher said he had not approached Zidlicky about a trade to the Devils, or anywhere else for that matter.

It is believed Fletcher is working on something, but as of early Thursday afternoon, there was nothing new to report.

Zidlicky's teammates say it's business as usual, especially for a team desperate to break a five-game losing skid. The Wild have also lost four games in a row at Xcel Energy Center, the first time that's ever happened.

"Everybody reads the papers and is aware of what's in the papers. There's no secrets anymore," Wild forward Matt Cullen said. "That sort of thing, you can't allow to creep in. You just have to leave it alone, and let that take care of itself. Guys are aware of what's going on, but to be honest, there's really nothing we can do about it.

"As a player, you've got plenty to worry about, getting yourself to play and trying to find a way to win a game here."

In that regard, both the Wild and Jets have plenty on their plates. Minnesota has lost 21 of 26 games, a stretch that began Dec. 13 in Winnipeg. At the time, the Wild had won seven straight games and were the best team in the National Hockey League.

"And do you want me to cry or what?" said Jets coach Claude Noel when asked about the quirky statistic. "It's funny, because some teams, when you're hot like they were when they came in, some teams springboard off of a game like that. We've springboarded off that game and had a pretty good month. We've used that to build confidence.

"When you watch them play at that time and then now, you can see the magnitude of what confidence does with a team, both good and bad."

The Jets pounded on the Wild physically that night, including a Zach Bogosian check-from-behind on Pierre-Marc Bouchard that some feel is the main reason why Bouchard has missed several weeks, and could perhaps miss the rest of season, with yet another concussion. Bouchard missed a couple of games after that because of a broken nose and facial lacerations, but returned for a spell shortly after. On injured reserve since Jan. 7, the Bogosian hit is believed to be the incident that set the wheels in motion on yet another head injury for Bouchard.

Bogosian is not in St. Paul because of a lower-body injury. Noel said he will be re-evaluated tomorrow and will be a game-time decision against Boston on Friday.

Both Minnesota and Winnipeg are both struggling to score of late, with the Wild 29th in the NHL in goals per game and the Jets 25th. Winnipeg took the first game by a score of 2-1, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see a similar score tonight.

"Just the way both teams play, I see it being a low-scoring game," Noel said. "I think it has the makings of a good game, a really good game. Both teams are going to have some urgency."

On the lineup front, Chris Mason will start in goal for the Jets. He's lost three straight starts, but has allowed just two goals in each of his last two. He hasn't played since a 2-1 loss at Florida on Feb. 3.

For Minnesota, Yeo said winger Cal Clutterbuck looked good this morning and will skate before the game. He's missed two games with a charley horse and is a game-time decision tonight. If Clutterbuck can't go, Jeff Taffe, called up Wednesday from AHL Houston, will take his place. Cody Almond, also just called up, will play, taking the place of Carson McMillan, who was placed on injured reserve following Minnesota's 2-1 loss to Anaheim Tuesday.

Niklas Backstrom will get the nod in goal.

Here are the projected lineups for tonight's game between the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center:

WILD
Dany Heatley - Mikko Koivu - Devin Setoguchi
Matt Cullen - Kyle Brodziak - Nick Johnson
Cal Clutterbuck - Erik Christensen - Cody Almond
Darroll Powe - Warren Peters - Matt Kassian

Nick Schultz - Nate Prosser
Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon
Justin Falk - Greg Zanon

Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding

JETS
Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane - Alexander Burmistrov - Kyle Wellwood
Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn
Tim Stapleton - Nik Antropov - Antti Miettinen

Tobias Enstrom - Dustin Byfuglien
Ron Hainsey - Randy Jones
Johnny Oduya - Mark Stuart

Chris Mason
Ondrej Pavelec

ST. PAUL -- Talk about two teams headed in opposite directions: Tonight's contest in the State of Hockey features perhaps the league's hottest team (Anaheim) and its coldest (Minnesota).

The Wild, in the midst of a four-game homestand, have slid from the top spot in the NHL all the way to 12th in the Western Conference, five points behind eighth-place Phoenix. After losing twice to League-worst Columbus in a five-day span, including a 3-1 loss here Saturday night, the Wild have juggled their lines and called up two more players -- one familiar and one who will make his NHL debut this evening.

First, defenseman Marco Scandella will make his return to the big club after a stint with AHL Houston. When the Wild were going well earlier in the season, Scandella was a major reason why. He was sent down to Houston a month ago after a rough stretch, to work on his game and regain his confidence.

"It feels good to be back," Scandella said. "I went down there with a positive attitude. If you think about [getting called back up] too much, it'll make you crazy. I just played hockey and had fun."

Scandella said he worked on "being sharp" and "having confidence on the ice in making plays." He'll have that opportunity tonight paired with Jared Spurgeon, perhaps the Wild's most willing shooter from the blue line.

"It's always fun to play with him because you always know what he's going to do on the ice," Scandella said. "He's predicable for a d-partner and that's what you need."

Making his NHL debut tonight will be Calgary-native Kris Foucault. A fourth-round pick of the Wild in 2009, Foucault has 10 goals and 13 assists in 47 games in Houston, his first in the American Hockey League. He scored 47 goals in two seasons in the Western Hockey League from 2009-11, and was called up to Minnesota for one reason.

"We need goals, and he is a guy that has a chance to make a play," Wild coach Mike Yeo said.

Yeo has also shifted center Matt Cullen to the wing with Kyle Brodziak and Nick Johnson. Brodziak and Johnson did wonders to jump-start Dany Heatley's game a couple of weeks back, and Yeo said he's hoping the duo can do the same for Cullen.

"Culley's been playing well, the numbers haven't been there for him," Yeo said. "But he's doing a lot of good things. It's about surrounding him with guys who are capable of helping him to take advantage of his skill and what he can do out there.

"We saw what Heater was able to do with Brodzy and Johnny, so I think it gives Brodzy and Johnny someone who is a real threat on that line. On top of that, it gives Culley someone who's done a lot of good things for us, some really quality players that give him something more to work with."

In goal, Yeo said he is turning to Josh Harding tonight. The start will be Harding's first since a disastrous third period Jan. 31 against Nashville where the Wild blew a 4-1 lead over the game's final 10 minutes. The Predators scored three goals over the game's final three minutes, including the game-winner with 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

"We haven't won, so we have to switch it up," Yeo said.

The challenge tonight for Harding will be if has put the Nashville collapse in the rear-view mirror.

"He has to," Yeo said. "It's been a little while now. I know Hards has the ability to be a starting goalie in the NHL. He's proven it this year. But in order for that to happen, these are the kind of things you have to deal with."

ST. PAUL -- Down the hall from the home team at the Xcel Energy Center, the Anaheim Ducks have been a picture of stability. Tonight's contest against the Minnesota Wild is the Ducks' third in a string of eight straight road games -- a franchise record. Anaheim lost in a shootout to Detroit on Feb. 10, but bounced back nicely Sunday with a 5-3 win at Columbus.

After an abysmal start -- one which cost Randy Carlyle his job -- new coach Bruce Boudreau has the Ducks firing on all cylinders. At 12-3-3 since the first of the year, the Ducks have climbed to within 10 points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Their 27 points in that span is third-best in the League.

"It's all about confidence, having everybody on the same page," Ducks forward Teemu Selanne said. "We're trying to enjoy the moment right now and hopeful we can stay hot."

Selanne, playing in his 20th NHL season, is on the verge of climbing the League's career scoring charts. With his next goal, Selanne will tie Brendan Shanahan for 12th on the all-time list. He's also three points shy of matching Luc Robitaille for 20th on the all-time scoring chart and two power-play goals short of Robitaille for fourth on that list.

Selanne has 5 points, all assists, against the Wild in three games this season. Minnesota has won two of the three previous matchups.

And while Minnesota has struggled to score of late, the Ducks boast two lines that can seemingly score at will. Corey Perry netted a hat trick and fired a career-high 11 shots on goal in Sunday's win at Columbus. Ryan Getzlaf has 12 points over his last 13 games.

"Our first two lines, if they are playing their best, can be the best in the League," Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller said. "We have a good third and fourth line right now, too. Everybody's working together.

"Before, we had lots of ups and downs. Some nights, some guys were playing and some were not. Now, most nights, everybody is here 100 percent. Guys are willing to work and give everything. That's been the difference."

Hiller has been rock-solid himself, stopping shots at almost a 93-percent clip and allowing less than two goals per over his last 16 games. He is 10-2-3 over that stretch with one no-decision. 

Here's how the lineups project tonight for the Minnesota Wild's game against the Anaheim Ducks at Xcel Energy Center:

WILD
Dany Heatley - Mikko Koivu - Devin Setoguchi
Matt Cullen - Kyle Brodziak - Nick Johnson
Kris Foucault - Erik Christensen - Carson McMillan
Darroll Powe - Warren Peters - Matt Kassian

Nick Schultz - Nate Prosser
Marek Zidlicky - Greg Zanon
Jared Spurgeon - Marco Scandella

Josh Harding
Niklas Backstrom

DUCKS
Bobby Ryan - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Matt Beleskey - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selanne
Jason Blake - Nick Bonino - Andrew Cogliano
Niklas Hagman - Rod Pelley - George Parros

Cam Fowler - Francois Beauchemin
Lubomir Visnovski - Luca Sbisa
Toni Lydman - Sheldon Brookbank

Jonas Hiller
Iiro Tarkki

ST. PAUL -- In mid-December, when the Wild were the best team in the National Hockey League, they led Vancouver in the Northwest Division standings by as many as five points.

Less than two months later, the Canucks lead Minnesota by 13 points, and if the Wild are going to make one final push to narrow that gap, it must begin tonight. Minnesota just wrapped up a brutal portion of its schedule, playing 15 of its last 23 games on the road. Minnesota has won just five games during that stretch, capturing the second fewest points in the NHL in that time.

Tonight's game opens a stretch of four in a row, five of six and 18 of 29 the rest of the way at the friendly confines of Xcel Energy Center, where Minnesota is 13-7-3 this season.

In its quest to get back on track, Minnesota will not have to face nemesis Roberto Luongo, who has shut out the Wild in three consecutive starts. He's the first goalie in the NHL to shut out one team three straight times since Evgeni Nabokov did it to the Coyotes in 2007.

With that kind of recent history against the Wild, one would have thought Luongo a cinch to get the start tonight, but his history in this building is less than stellar. Over his last three starts at the Xcel Energy Center, Luongo's goals against average is 7, he's stopped just 77 percent of shots faced and has not finished a game. For his career, Luongo is 3-9-2 in St. Paul.

Enter Cory Schneider, who started the only game the two teams have played in Minnesota this season back on Nov. 3. Minnesota won that game 5-1.

"Probably the most impressive offensive effort I've seen all season," Schneider said. "But we're a different team right now than we were at the beginning of the year and we know we can beat this team. We have in our building."

Neither Schneider or Canucks coach Alain Vigneault could offer much of any reason why this series has taken on such a home-team edge. It seems neither one of these teams can win in their opponent's barn.

"They've given us real hard battles in this building," Vigneault said. "For some reason, in this building, we haven't been as good as we can be. We're usually a really good road team, but for some reason, this building has been a challenge for us."

If Minnesota is going to continue its hot streak against the Canucks in St. Paul, the Wild will need more from a struggling power play, which scored on less than 10 percent of its chances during the road-heavy stretch. But that won't be an easy task against Vancouver, which has shut out the Wild power play on 12 chances this season. The Wild haven't scored a goal against the Canucks with the man advantage since February of last season, when Cal Clutterbuck potted a power-play goal 359 days ago.

Among the lowest scoring teams in the NHL, the Wild are 12-7-2 when scoring with the extra attacker this season.

The return of Mikko Koivu to the lineup tonight will allow Wild coach Mike Yeo to reshuffle his lines a little bit. Koivu returns to his top-line spot between Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi.

"They've played well together all year long," Yeo said.

Newcomer Erik Christensen, making his home debut for the Wild tonight, has been moved to wing on the second line with Matt Cullen and Cal Clutterbuck, giving Minnesota a skilled second line it has been missing of late. Yeo said he was pleased with how Clutterbuck and Cullen played with Pierre-Marc Bouchard earlier in the season, another skilled winger.

"That was a pretty effective line for us," Yeo said. "Obviously Christensen is not Butch, they're both different players. But both have skill, both make plays. Hopefully, they'll find a little bit of that magic again."

In goal for Minnesota will be Niklas Backstrom, who has been stellar for Minnesota over the past three games. Although his record over that stretch is just 1-1-1, the Wild have provided him with only three goals total of support.

On the injury front, the Wild placed defenseman Clayton Stoner on injured reserve with a lower body injury. There is no timetable on his return. Koivu was removed from IR today, so no further roster moves are pending.

For Vancouver, winger Dale Weise's CT scan on his foot was negative. He participated in the morning skate and is a game-time decision.

Here are tonight's projected lineups:

WILD
Dany Heatley - Mikko Koivu - Devin Setoguchi
Cal Clutterbuck - Matt Cullen - Erik Christensen
Nick Johnson - Kyle Brodziak - Carson McMillan
Darroll Powe - Warren Peters - Brad Staubitz

Nick Schultz - Jared Spurgeon
Marek Zidlicky - Greg Zanon
Justin Falk - Nate Prosser

Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding

CANUCKS
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alexandre Burrows
Mason Raymond - Ryan Kesler - Byron Bitz
David Booth - Cody Hodgson - Jannik Hansen
Manny Malhotra - Maxim Lapierre - Dale Weise

Dan Hamhuis - Kevin Bieksa
Alexander Edler - Sami Salo
Aaron Rome - Keith Ballard

Cory Schneider
Roberto Luongo

ST. PAUL -- While one captain looks as though he will continue his ironman streak tonight at Xcel Energy Center, another looks to start a new one.

Minnesota's Mikko Koivu is expected to return after missing the Wild's last eight games with an upper-body injury. Clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the west, Koivu's return could be a major boon to a Wild squad kicking off a critical four-game homestand against the rival Canucks, who appear likely to have Henrik Sedin in the lineup tonight.

"I feel good, I feel stronger, the last couple of days have been good," Koivu said.

Koivu skated today between wingers Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi, reuniting a line that had been split up with Koivu out of the lineup. Koivu's return could also help spark a Minnesota offense that has sputtered of late, scoring just three goals total over the Wild's last three games. To its credit, Minnesota has gone 1-1-1 in that stretch.

"As much as anything else, just his leadership, he's a warrior out there. That's contagious with the rest of the group," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "With what he contributes and the role he has with our team, his play and the situations we put him out in and his effectiveness in those situations."