For a third straight game, the Wild will have a key player return to the lineup.
Goalie Cam Talbot is scheduled to start Monday night at Xcel Energy Center against the Canadiens after missing the previous six games with a lower-body injury suffered Jan.1 at the Winter Classic.
"Extremely excited," Talbot said. "It was longer than I'd hoped for but with these things, you don't want to come back too early. They can linger. Training staff and coaching staff, we all talked and thought it'd be best to wait a few more days and I'm feeling excited and ready to go."
Last Friday, center Joel Eriksson Ek returned from an upper-body injury and then the next day, captain Jared Spurgeon was back in action after reaggravating a lower-body injury. He had two assists in the 4-3 overtime win over the Blackhawks.
"He did not miss a beat obviously," coach Dean Evason said. "Every player today, they don't get out of shape. But certainly he did not. I'm sure he worked as hard as he did leading into the season as he did recovering. Mentally, I think that allows him to be ready.
"He's just such a sound, not only hockey player, just a real sound person. We are lucky he is the captain of our team."
The Wild still has two players out; winger Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Jonas Brodin are dealing with upper-body injuries. But the team continues to rack up points despite not being at full strength, winning five of its last six games while Talbot was out and Kaapo Kahkonen started in his place.
"There's just no reason to rush back," Talbot said. "The guys are playing well in front of him, and he was holding down the fort back there. So, it's fun to watch that's for sure. But I'm excited to be back."