Update: Cody Almond and Justin Falk, part of Houston's latest win tonight, will fly to Phoenix in the morning as Cullen/Barker insurance.

Afternoon from chilly Arizona. Honest to goodness, it's cold.

Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said he walked his dogs in the desert this morning and there was frost on the ground. Then, he started telling rattlesnake stories.

Centermen Matt Cullen and John Madden didn't practice this afternoon. Coach Todd Richards said Madden should play, but Cullen is a question mark to play Saturday night against the Coyotes. The Wild only has 20 bodies here in Glendale, so the team will probably call up a forward by the morning as insurance if Cullen can't play.

But Richards still needed to meet with trainer Don Fuller to see the likelihood of Cullen being able to play.

I'd assume it would be Cody Almond if there is a callup, but we'll see. Casey Wellman is hurt again, this time with a shoulder injury.

Defenseman Cam Barker (eye) practiced today and is good to go to play. Niklas Backstrom is expected to be in net. He's got two shutouts in his past four starts.

Ilya Bryzgalov will be back in goal for Phoenix, which is coming off a pair of painful losses in a row. Ed Jovanovski is a question mark. He'll test his upper-body injury in Saturday's morning skate.

Former Army Ranger JB Spisso, who you've read a lot about, visited with the team this afternoon and will be at the game. He lives here in Arizona and the Wild's actually won a ton since he spent about a week with the Wild in December.

He addressed the Wild on the ice today, and the high energy guy had the players laughing. Among the many things he told them, he said he watches every Wild game and during every TV timeout, he does pushups.

"I'm training while you're working," he said.