At the Rink: Wild at Kings

Minnesota Wild center Jarret Stoll will have mixed emotions when he returns to Staples Center for the first time Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; SN, FS-N, FS-WI, FS-W) since he left the Los Angeles Kings last season.

"It will be fun. It will be weird," Stoll said. "Seeing the other side of it, going into the visitor's dressing room, going to the visiting bench, or warm-ups on the other side. Stuff like that was so routine, ritual kind of stuff. Everything will be different."

The Kings (29-13-3) plan to recognize Stoll, an integral depth player on their 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup championship teams. He helped them advance to the Western Conference Final three straight seasons, win 10 Stanley Cup Playoff series, and scored the series-clinching overtime goal in the 2012 Western Conference First Round against the Vancouver Canucks.

"When him and [defenseman Matt Greene] came in [from the Edmonton Oilers in 2008], it was probably the start of a lot of the good things we've done over the last few years," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. "Memory wise, there's just so many. It's more off ice, on the bus, on the plane type memories. He was a big part of our team for a long time."

Stoll was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the New York Rangers on Aug. 10, played in 29 games (goal, two assists) and was later placed on waivers. Minnesota claimed him Dec. 15 and has welcomed his leadership to its dressing room.

"It's everywhere," Wild left wing Zach Parise said. "You must know that he's been part of a team that does it the right way and knows how to win. You hope that he brings it to us because we're trying to get to that level."

Minnesota (22-16-8) recalled right wing Jordan Schroeder from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Thursday. The Wild have scored one goal in three games and are playing the second of back-to-back games after a 3-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.

Schroeder, who has 20 points in 25 games with Iowa, has one goal in 11 NHL games this season.

Kings left wing Marian Gaborik took line rushes on the second line Thursday, according to the team. Gaborik was demoted to the fourth line the past two games and played a season-low 10:06 minutes Tuesday in the 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars.

Here are the projected lineups:

WILD

Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – Jason Pominville

Jason Zucker – Mikko Koivu – Thomas Vanek

Nino Niederreiter – Charlie Coyle – Jordan Schroeder

Erik Haula – Jarret Stoll – Chris Porter

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin – Matt Dumba

Marco Scandella – Nate Prosser

Darcy Kuemper

Devan Dubnyk

Injured: Ryan Carter (hand)

Scratched: Tyson Strachan, Niklas Backstrom, Justin Fontaine

KINGS

Milan Lucic – Anze Kopitar – Tyler Toffoli

Marian Gaborik – Vincent Lecavalier – Jeff Carter

Dwight King – Trevor Lewis – Dustin Brown

Tanner Pearson – Nick Shore – Jordan Nolan

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty

Alec Martinez – Jamie McBain

Brayden McNabb – Luke Schenn

Jonathan Quick

Jhonas Enroth

Injured: Matt Greene (shoulder), Kyle Clifford (upper body)

Scratched: Andy Andreoff, Christian Ehrhoff

Status report: Kuemper and Quick are expected to start. The Kings again mixed up their second and third defensive pairings at the morning skate. Muzzin has been reunited with Doughty the past two games.

Who's hot: Haula has three assists in five games. Kopitar has eight goals and 24 assists in his past 26 games. Lecavalier has power-play goals in each of the past three games.