At the Rink: Ducks at Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Anaheim Ducks will get a crucial cog back in its lineup Friday when they play the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.

Forward Matt Beleskey, who has missed the past 12 games because of a shoulder injury, will play for the first time since Feb. 15. Beleskey, third on the Ducks with 21 goals, will skate on Anaheim’s first line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

"He brings an element of a physical game and a guy that can score," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's something we've missed from the left side. I'm not expecting it to happen overnight; he's been out a while.

"It also stabilizes our lines. We can get more into the line combinations that we want hopefully coming through the end of the month and through April."

Anaheim is hoping Beleskey can help end a three-game losing streak and spark a team that is 11-10-1 since the All-Star break.

"We don't expect him to come out and turn the team around by any means; he's been off for a while," Getzlaf said. "We just want him to get out there and play games again. Play and contribute. He's been pretty good throughout this whole season and found an ability to put the puck in the net when given the opportunity."

Minnesota will stick with the lineup it used Tuesday in a 6-2 defeat of the New Jersey Devils. The game against Anaheim wraps a three-game homestand and opens a stretch of three in a row against the League's top teams. The Wild play the second half of back-to-back games Saturday against the St. Louis Blues and then plays at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

All three opponents enter Friday as one of six teams tied atop the NHL standings with 91 points.

"It'll be a tough stretch of games, no question," Wild forward Zach Parise said. "It'll be good to see where we are at. We've played some teams that are not in the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs lately."

Goaltender Devan Dubnyk will start his 27th consecutive game. The Ducks are expected to counter with John Gibson, who allowed six goals on 23 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday. Prior to that, Gibson had allowed two goals or fewer in his previous four starts.

Here are the projected lineups:

DUCKS

Matt Beleskey - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry

Tomas Fleischmann - Ryan Kesler - Jakob Silfverberg

Emerson Etem - Rickard Rakell - Kyle Palmieri

Andrew Cogliano - Nate Thompson - Jiri Sekac

Hampus Lindholm - Francois Beauchemin

Cam Fowler - Simon Despres

Clayton Stoner - James Wisniewski

John Gibson

Frederik Andersen

Scratched: Patrick Maroon

Injured: Tim Jackman (lower body), Sami Vatanen (lower body), Korbinian Holzer (upper body)

WILD

Zach Parise - Mikael Granlund - Jason Pominville

Nino Niederreiter - Mikko Koivu - Chris Stewart

Thomas Vanek - Charlie Coyle - Justin Fontaine

Sean Bergenheim - Erik Haula - Kyle Brodziak

Ryan Suter - Jonas Brodin

Nate Prosser - Matt Dumba

Jordan Leopold - Jared Spurgeon

Devan Dubnyk

Niklas Backstrom

Scratched: Jordan Schroeder, Christian Folin, Darcy Kuemper

Injured: Marco Scandella (undisclosed), Ryan Carter (upper body), Jason Zucker (clavicle), Matt Cooke (sports hernia), Keith Ballard (concussion/facial fractures)

Status report: Boudreau said Jackman may start skating as soon as Monday and his return could come soon thereafter. ... Scandella shot pucks gingerly, according to Yeo, prior to the morning skate. He won't return this weekend and seems unlikely to be back until March 19 against the Washington Capitals at the earliest.

Who's hot: Getzlaf scored twice against Calgary on Wednesday and leads the Ducks with 41 assists and 63 points. ... Vanek had two goals against the Devils on Tuesday after scoring a goal Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche; it's the first time he has goals in back-to-back games this season.