Wild Warmup: Minnesota at Chicago

The essentials

The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
When the Wild takes the ice Friday night at the United Center against the Chicago Blackhawks, it will have yet another crucial member of its core back in the lineup.
It is expected to, anyway.
The Wild has been down this road before ... a week or so ago, when Joel Eriksson Ek looked like he was going to return from an upper-body injury that cost him three games, only to be placed on the COVID-19 protocol list.
Should all go according to plan this time, however, Eriksson Ek should be back in the middle of a familiar line with Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno as the Wild aims to push its point streak to five games.
The game Friday is the first of consecutive contests against the rival Blackhawks; the two clubs will play in St. Paul on Saturday, a game that will cap Hockey Day Minnesota, which is emanating from Mankato this year.

The Wild hopes it enters the unofficial state holiday with another 'W' under its belt, and if it does, it could get even more reinforcements back in the lineup for that game as well.
Defenseman Jared Spurgeon is close to a return from a lower-body injury and could be back as soon as Saturday. Likewise for goaltender Cam Talbot, who is also recovering from a lower-body injury and won't dress tomorrow, but could back up on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center.
The Wild was unexpectedly without forward Ryan Hartman in practice on Thursday because of non-COVID illness, but he made the trip to Chicago and is expected to play.

"Was best for him to just rest up and get ready for tomorrow," Evason said.
In addition to the front half of back-to-back games, the Wild will play three games in the next four nights, which is a harbinger of things to come for Minnesota. The NHL announced revised schedules on Wednesday, with the Wild having all seven of its postponements rescheduled into the stretch that was the Olympic break.
Overall, it will play the final 40 games on its schedule in 77 days, a hectic stretch considering the Wild has played just six times in the past month.
"It's nice leading in," Evason said. "It's a good opportunity for us. We have some bodies back and it'll be nice to play some hockey now and hopefully get on a roll and in a groove."
Like the Wild, the Blackhawks have been off since Monday night. Also like the Wild, Chicago went to a shootout and lost on the road, dropping a 3-2 skills competition to the Seattle Kraken.
The shootout loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Hawks, who are playing some of their best hockey of the season, though it extended its point streak to a season-best five games.

Not surprisingly, Patrick Kane has been instrumental during that stretch, putting together an eight-game points streak entering play Friday, scoring two goals and dishing out eight assists during that span.
He's got 13 points over his past 12 games since Dec. 15 and leads Chicago with 35 points on the season, including 26 assists.
Alex DeBrincat has been the primary beneficiary, leading the club with 23 goals. Brandon Hagel (10) is the only other Blackhawk in double figures in that category.
Marc-Andre Fleury has seen a bulk of the action between the posts in his first season with Chicago, posting a 13-11-3 record in 27 games (all starts), with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.