Wild's Ryan Hartman remains out, Marc-Andre Fleury to start vs. Blackhawks

The Wild will have to wait at least one more game to get Ryan Hartman back in their lineup.

The center won't suit up on Friday against the Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center, but he's a possibility to play on Sunday when the team wraps up this four-game homestand vs. the Senators.

Hartman, a former first round pick of the Blackhawks, missed the past 20 games with an upper-body injury suffered Oct. 30 at Chicago, but he's been skating and was on the ice Friday morning.

Brandon Duhaime is also sidelined because of an upper-body injury, and the winger skated for the first time on Friday; Duhaime hasn't played since Nov. 23 vs. the Jets.

"A good sign obviously," coach Dean Evason said.

With Hartman still unavailable, the Wild aren't tweaking their forward lines and their defense will remain the same.

Their only change will be in net, as Marc-Andre Fleury gets the start after Filip Gustavsson backstopped the Wild to a 4-1 win on Wednesday against the Red Wings.

That was the Wild's third consecutive victory; one more win will tie their season-long streak of four.

Fleury last played on Monday when the Wild held off the Oilers 2-1, an outcome that gave Fleury his fourth victory over his last six appearances. In 22 career starts against Chicago, Fleury is 11-6-5 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. The Wild acquired the goaltender in a trade with the Blackhawks at last season's trade deadline.

This is the second of four meetings this season between the Wild and their Central Division rivals.

Back on Oct. 30, the Wild prevailed 4-3 in a shootout.

Kirill Kaprizov-Sam Steel-Mats Zuccarello

Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno

Sammy Walker-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy

Mason Shaw-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves

Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill-Calen Addison

Marc-Andre Fleury

3: Goals for Frederick Gaudreau in his last two games.

5: Consecutive wins at home for the Wild.

10: Points for Mats Zuccarello during his eight-game point streak.

10: Game point streak for Kirill Kaprizov at Xcel Energy Center.

499: Career games for Jon Merrill

Team statistics and betting line for tonight's game

Chicago lost its fifth straight game on Thursday, falling 4-1 to Vegas at home. Overall, the Blackhawks are 1-12-1 over their past 14 games. On the road, they're 3-7-2. Winger Patrick Kane has 52 points vs. the Wild in 56 career games. The Blackhawks have dropped 18 of their last 27 games against the Wild.