ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It's pretty safe to say the Christmas break came at a good time for the Minnesota Wild.

With captain Mikko Koivu ailing and the team having lost six straight games, three days off offered the Wild a unique opportunity to forget about their losing streak and get some of their firepower back heading into tonight's game against Northwest Division rival Colorado.

And while Minnesota is still without three valuable forwards, the big news from Xcel Energy Center this morning is the return of Koivu to the Wild lineup after missing the last five games due to a lower-body injury.

"No matter how we were playing, it's huge for us," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "In every aspect of our game, and how we play it, he's the leader.

"More importantly, in just the attitude we want to bring to the rink and that fighting spirit that's made us so successful. He's the leader in that as well."

Yeo was less willing to discuss the six-game losing skid the Wild are currently on, focusing instead on what's ahead. After a loss in Winnipeg on Dec. 13, Minnesota suffered a pair of shootout losses at home to Chicago and the New York Islanders. Koivu was lost on the last shift of overtime against the Blackhawks. Minnesota then looked lost on a three-game division road trip to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton last week. Over that six-game streak, the Wild have scored just seven goals.

"I want to put that behind us," Yeo said. "We said what we needed to say after that one and we talked about it. We know what happened before the break. … But we had the break. It came at the perfect time. Now, it's all about moving forward."

Wild forward Dany Heatley said it was good to leave hockey behind for a couple of days in order to recharge the batteries and let the minor bumps and bruises heal.

"Obviously with the way that last road trip went, it was good to get away for a couple days," Heatley said.

In terms of a game plan for tonight, Yeo said the key for both teams will be getting a fast start, especially after a layoff.

"How quick can you get your game going?" Yeo said. "It doesn't seem like much, but in three days, things can slip rather quickly."

For Minnesota, limiting the red-hot Avalanche power play is something Yeo said the Wild will focus on. They can do that, he said, by limiting Colorado's puck possession. Ranked sixth in the League at just a shade over 20 percent, Colorado will attempt to take advantage of a Minnesota penalty kill ranked eighth.

The Avs will be at a distinct disadvantage from a travel perspective, as the team is en route to Minnesota this morning and will not even arrive at Xcel Energy Center until the afternoon. Normally, teams travel to a city the day before a game, but because of the NHL's rules on holiday travel, the Avalanche did not leave Denver until 9:30 a.m. Central Time -- less than eight hours before tonight's 5 p.m. faceoff.

Needless to say, Colorado did not skate this morning and hasn't been on the ice since Friday when it defeated Tampa Bay 2-1 in overtime at the Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche have won four in a row overall, and set a franchise record Friday by winning their eighth straight home game. But that success has not translated on the road, where Colorado has lost nine in a row, including a 1-0 loss at Xcel Energy Center on Nov. 17.

The last road victory for the Avs came before Halloween, Oct. 22, in a shootout at Chicago. Their last win on the road in regulation was Oct. 13 at Ottawa, which was their sixth consecutive win on the road to start the season.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Here are how the lineups could look for tonight's game between the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche at the Xcel Energy Center:

WILD
Dany Heatley - Mikko Koivu - Cal Clutterbuck
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Matt Cullen - Jarrod Palmer
Nick Johnson - Kyle Brodziak - Darroll Powe
Colton Gillies - Warren Peters - Brad Staubitz
 
Nick Schultz - Mike Lundin
Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon
Marek Zidlicky - Justin Faulk
 
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding

INJURIES: LW Casey Wellman (wrist), LW Devin Setoguchi (lower body), RW Guillaume Latendresse (head) and D Clayton Stoner (groin) are out.
 
AVALANCHE
Matt Duchene - Paul Stastny - Daniel Winnik
Gabriel Landeskog - Ryan O'Reilly - Milan Hejduk
Brad Malone - Jay McClement - TJ Galiardi
David Van Der Gulik - Kevin Porter - Cody McLeod
 
Jan Hejda - Shane O'Brien
Stefan Elliott - Erik Johnson
Matt Hunwick - Ryan O'Byrne
 
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Semyon Varlamov

INJURIES: RW David Jones (groin), RW Chuck Kobasew (head), LW Peter Mueller (head), C Mark Olver (head), and D Ryan Wilson (head) are out.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Tonight could be a battle of attrition for the Wild and Islanders.

Both teams enter play battling a number of injuries. New York will welcome back a couple of key pieces tonight, including defenseman Andy MacDonald, who hasn't played since Nov. 29 at Buffalo because of a right leg injury.

MacDonald should help an Islanders special teams crew that has struggled of late.

"I sense the frustration setting in on the power play and that can’t happen," coach Jack Capuano told the team's website. "All our power play goals have come from getting pucks to the net. We aren’t doing it right now and that’s a problem."

Also back this evening will be forward Nino Niederreiter, who suffered a concussion Dec. 3 against Dallas and missed five games.

Goaltender Evgeni Nabokov will also be back in the lineup tonight, although he will back up Al Montoya.

Defenseman Mark Eaton, who has missed the last 11 games, will not play tonight, although Capuano mentioned he is "close." Capuano also confirmed Brian Rolston's concussion after some additional testing. There is no timetable for his return.

Tonight will also mark a homecoming for Islanders forward Kyle Okposo. Born "two minutes down the road," Okposo said he will have a number of family members in attendance tonight. He also said he was able to have a family Christmas party at his mom's house last night.

Injuries have also been a problem for the Wild, who have suffered a litany of setbacks all season -- first with their defensemen and now with their forwards.

Team captain Mikko Koivu -- who sustained a lower-body injury on the final shift of overtime in Minnesota's Wednesday night loss to Chicago, will not play this evening and the team hopes to have him back by Christmas. He skated in his warm-up suit before the team's morning skate.

Also among the walking wounded is Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who missed the game Wednesday after being checked head-first into the boards at Winnipeg on Tuesday. The winger suffered a broken nose and facial lacerations. He skated with Koivu this morning, but also practiced and Wild coach Mike Yeo said he's a game-time decision.

If he can't go, Yeo said the team will go with seven defensemen. Should Bouchard be able to play, it appears veteran defenseman Greg Zanon will be the odd-man out again, as he was Wednesday night.

"He looked great," Yeo said of Bouchard. "It's just a matter of seeing how he feels this afternoon."

If Bouchard is out, Zanon will play because forward Casey Wellman -- hampered by a wrist injury -- has been ruled out this evening.

"Seeing him shoot the puck, he can't go out and play the way we need him to play," Yeo said.

Forwards Guillaume Latendresse (concussion) and Devin Setoguchi (lower body) did not skate today and remain out indefinitely, although Yeo said Setoguchi will travel with the team on their upcoming three-game road trip.

With all of the injuries, Yeo said it's critical for some guys to play their roles better.

"We have to have guys that play big tonight," Yeo said. "Missing a lot of guys like this, play big in your own game. Don't take yourself out of that. Nothing should change for us, really. We should be ready to come in here and grind it out."

Wild forward Jarod Palmer will also make his NHL debut tonight. The 25-year old native of Fridley, Minn. had four goals and six assists in 26 games with Houston in the NHL and was a plus-eight.

"The challenge is keeping your head together, keeping your head in it," Palmer said. "You can't get to high or low. Stay even keeled, play smart and be ready to play."

Here are the projected lineups for both teams:

WILD

Dany Heatley - Matt Cullen - Cal Clutterbuck
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Kyle Brodziak - Darroll Powe
Nick Johnson - Cody Almond - Jarrod Palmer
Colton Gillies - Warren Peters - Brad Staubitz
 
Nick Schultz - Mike Lundin
Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon
Marek Zidlicky - Clayton Stoner
 
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding
 
ISLANDERS

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - PA Parenteau
Michael Grabner - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo
David Ullstrom - Josh Bailey - Nino Niederreiter
Matt Martin - Marty Reasoner - Tim Wallace
 
Mark Streit - Travis Hamonic
Andy MacDonald - Milan Jurcina
Mike Mottau - Dylan Reese
 
Al Montoya
Evgeni Nabokov

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Ray Emery his starter on Tuesday afternoon. It'll be Emery's fifth straight game and his fourth start in the last five. Emery was the goalie of record in Chicago's 3-2 overtime win Sunday against San Jose, stopping 35 shots and improving his record this season to 6-1-2.

"He's played well all year," said coach Joel Quenneville. "He's earned the opportunity to keep on going. He's got the confidence, he's been productive and we want to keep it going as long as we can."

He made 42 saves in a 5-3 win against Minnesota as a member of the Ottawa Senators in November 2006 -- his lone career start against the Wild.

Here's how the rest of the Blackhawks -- and the Wild -- likely will look when they hit the ice here at the Xcel Energy Center (7:30 p.m. ET, Versus).

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It'll be a homecoming game for a few members of the Blackhawks tonight when they take the ice here against the Minnesota Wild (7:30 p.m. ET, Versus).

Among them is Andrew Brunette, the fourth-leading scorer in Wild franchise history.

He said he's not putting too much stock into his return, however, and hopes to keep the focus on the business of netting points.

"I'm looking forward to getting this game over with," said Brunette, who had 321 points in 489 games with the Wild. "The first one is never a fun one. I really just want to get our two points and get out of here. I think the next time back, it'll be a little different."

Brunette said the atmosphere tonight could be playoff-like.

"I hope so," je said. "When this building gets going, it's one of the funnest buildings in the league to play in."

Also making a return to the State of Hockey is Eden Prairie native Nick Leddy, the Wild's first round selection in the 2009 Entry Draft.

"What he's giving us offensively and defensively is getting better and better," said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. "I don't necessarily measure his contribution numbers-wise. When he's playing (well), he's giving us that offense."

Former Wild defensemen Sean O'Donnell and John Scott also will return tonight.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- With realignment on the horizon, tonight's battle between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks (7:30 p.m. ET, Versus) should be the start of a heated divisional rivalry starting as soon as next season.

This time around, however, it will settle midseason Western Conference supremacy, as the top two teams in the conference meet for the first time this season, here at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Blackhawks trail the Wild by three points in the standings. After this game, the Hawks will play six of their next seven at home to close the 2011 portion of their schedule.

The Wild return to downtown St. Paul for the first time in 12 days after a successful five-game road trip that saw them go 4-1-0.

Also returning could be a few key elements to the roster.

Coach Mike Yeo said defenseman Marek Zidlicky -- absent since Nov. 15 with a concussion -- could return to the lineup tonight. The puck-moving blueliner has 6 assists in 18 games this season.

Who sits if Zidlicky comes back is a question Yeo said the Wild coaching staff will toss around today.

"That's the tricky thing," Yeo said. "We have to get Zids back into the lineup. We have to get his game going. I felt like he was starting to come along before he got hurt."

Forward Matt Cullen also could return tonight after missing Tuesday's game in Winnipeg after falling ill earlier in the day. Yeo said he was feeling better but would be a game-time decision.

Also not to be decided until game-time will be the status of forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who was injured late in Tuesday's game after being checked from behind head-first into the boards. Bouchard, who missed all but one game in 2009-10 with a concussion, left the game with blood pouring out of his nose. He was one of only a couple of Wild players to skate this morning and appeared to have stitches on the bridge of his nose.

Wild forward Guillaume Latendresse returned to the lineup Tuesday in Winnipeg after missing 15 games with a concussion. He scored Minnesota's only goal in a 2-1 loss to the Jets, but also will be a game-time decision depending on how he feels after his first game back. He only practiced with the team once before making his return.

The Wild do have forward Warren Peters available because of the line-up uncertainty.

"We don't know what our lineup is yet, to be honest," Yeo said.

That uncertainty even extends to the net, where Niklas Backstrom will start -- if he's up to it. Backstrom missed three games with a groin injury earlier this month, but has played the last two games, including a 25-save effort Tuesday. Yeo hadn't talked to Backstrom to find out how he felt, but if he can't go, Matt Hackett would earn the start. Yeo said the team is in no rush to bring back an injured Josh Harding.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Here is what the lineups could look like when the Wild and Blackhawks hit the ice tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, Versus) at the Xcel Energy Center.

WILD
Dany Heatley - Mikko Koivu - Cal Clutterbuck
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Matt Cullen - Casey Wellman
Darroll Powe - Kyle Brodziak - Nick Johnson
Brad Staubitz - Cody Almond - Colton Gillies
 
Nick Schultz - Mike Lundin
Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon
Greg Zanon - Clayton Stoner
 
Niklas Backstrom will start in goal, with Matt Hackett the backup.
 
BLACKHAWKS
Viktor Stalberg - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp - Marcus Kruger - Marian Hossa
Daniel Carcillo - Dave Bolland - Andrew Brunette
Bryan Bickell - Jamal Mayers - Michael Frolik
 
Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Niklas Hjalmarsson - Nick Leddy
Sami Lepisto - Steve Montador
 
Ray Emery will start in goal, with Corey Crawford the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.