Wild's Harding has a scratched cornea

Wild goaltender Josh Harding wasted little time Thursday declaring himself ready to get back into the net.

"Everything's fine," Harding said after watching -- through sunglasses -- his teammates practice. "It's just a slight scratch. But nothing serious. I should be back right away."

In Wednesday night's preseason game against Buffalo, Harding was poked in the right eye with the blade of a stick that made it through the eyehole of his goalie mask. He was sent to a hospital as a precautionary measure.

Officially, the Wild said Thursday that Harding will miss tonight's game and Saturday's contest in Montreal because of a scratched cornea. When the incident happened in the third period Wednesday, it appeared it could have been much worse.

After the incident, Harding collapsed to the ice, tossing his gloves and mask. A Wild trainer held a towel to the right side of Harding's face as they rushed off the ice.

"Right away, I didn't know what to think," Harding said. "Anytime you get something with your eye, you get pretty cautious. I'm just glad it's not as bad as it could have been."

Harding could not open his right eye Thursday and was eager for the swelling to go down.

"When I can see better, that's when I'll be back," he said.

For the second time in a week, the Wild will play preseason games on back-to-back nights. Tonight's game in Columbus and Saturday's in Montreal wrap up the exhibition season for Minnesota. Coach Jacques Lemaire did not hold back when asked what he expects to see out of his players in their final preseason games -- especially some of those hoping for a roster spot.

"The NHL means that you have to play hard every game for your team," he said. "And you have to play the best every game. It's not playing one good game, and three games average, one bad one, one good one. It doesn't work like this. Not in the NHL

"Any young guys that [were] not on an NHL team all year last year and not playing [regularly]. I'm talking about these guys," Lemaire continued, his voice growing louder. "If they don't understand that, they'll have a hard time to play."

Lemaire singled out forward Benoit Pouliot, the Wild's first-round draft pick in 2005 who has impressed through five preseason games.

"Playing the way he's playing now, he's building confidence and he's building my confidence," Lemaire said. "So I give him more ice time."

But what if that positive impression goes away?

"That means maybe out of the lineup [for] a time," Lemaire said. "And ... on the bubble."

Pouliot -- who said he is more excited than nervous about these last two games, even with Saturday's being near his hometown of Alfred, Ontario -- is ready to keep the good play going.

"It's a good challenge to get some consistency," he said. "It will be a good test. The adrenaline will be going there for sure."

New Wild defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron has racked up 17 penalty minutes in four games this preseason. Fifteen have come for five-minute fighting majors. The latest was Tuesday night, and Bergeron, who came into this training camp with one NHL fight to his credit, paid dearly. He was clocked by Chicago's Kyle Beach, and left with a broken nose, several stitches and two bad-looking black eyes.

"Sometimes you have to take charge and make sure [opponents] respect you," the 5-10, 197-pound Bergeron said. "That's what I did. It just so happens it was three times, three games in a row."

Lemaire, asked if this is perhaps a new side to his new defenseman said, "That's not a side I want to look at."

• Defenseman Marek Zidlicky will not play in the final two preseason games because of a sore leg. Lemaire did not sound optimistic about the defender's progress.

"It doesn't look good," he said. "Looks like it'll be awhile."

• Lemaire said there's a chance Marian Gaborik could play in both upcoming games. He will play tonight.

• The Wild will unveil the team's first mascot at a ceremony at 4 p.m. Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. The public is invited. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.