Jared Spurgeon sidelined with a shoulder injury; Jonas Brodin, Erik Haula, Christian Folin may return vs. Dallas

Happy Halloween everyone. Some fans got a head start and came to Thursday's Wild-Sharks game in costumes.

This one caught coach Mike Yeo's eye:

"Good-looking guy," Yeo quipped.

Yeo was full of jokes today, saying he should have had the imposter fill in for him at today's press scrum. When I asked Yeo where the guy sat during the game, Yeo joked the lookalike actually coached the game from the bench.

Impressive costume. He even got Yeo's style down with the shift and tie and certainly the facial expression.

Wild hosts the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. The Stars, who play at home Friday night, are gifted offensively, but they give up a bunch of goals. So it should be a fun game to watch.

I'll be on KFAN at 4:30 p.m. today.

This is a huge loss. Not only is he one of the Wild's biggest offensive threats from the back end, he really helps make the Wild's puck possession and transition game run. Plus, his breakouts have been exceptional this season.

Yeo would only say he'll miss "more than a couple games."

Spurgeon's down in the dumps about this.

"Not happy," he said. "We've been playing awesome, so that's the hardest thing to come out of the lineup when your team is playing well. We've been winning games. It's one of the best starts since I've been here that we've had. But the guys we have in the room, it's not going to matter with me being out with the way we're playing. Just try to get back as fast as I can."

Spurgeon said it's not separated, but he has got to let it settle down and get the strength back so it doesn't separate.

Defenseman Jonas Brodin took part in today's optional practiced. Yeo asked it how it went, and Brodin said well. But Yeo said he needed to have a longer conversation with him. But he's hopeful he can return against the Stars, so he's listed as "possible" for Saturday.

Defenseman Christian Folin practiced again and Yeo expects the rookie to return. Defenseman Keith Ballard is still sick and defenseman Justin Falk was reassigned.

"This is another test for the depth of our defensemen," Yeo said, adding it's a test for the young defensemen and players like Nate Prosser and even Marco Scandella, who has been so good (even or plus every game this year). "When you lose somebody, there's always more opportunity.

"If we're playing our game the right way and if we're going out and attacking the way we have been and defending the way we have been, then we give the guys a good chance to succeed."

I talked with Ryan Suter and he said with Spurgeon out, just like last year when the Wild lost defensemen, he's taking it upon himself that he has to step up even more to help the team. Shocker there, right?

Yeo said Erik Haula has a good shot to return Saturday, but the team has to first make sure he's completely fine after the morning skate.

My guess is Justin Fontaine stays on the line with Thomas Vanek and Kyle Brodziak to start and Haula centers Ryan Carter and Nino Niederreiter.

The Brodziak line has produced two games in a row, but it really got going when Fontaine was put on it Thursday. Yeo wasn't happy with Niederreiter's game and made clear today that "I'm expecting Nino to have a real strong game" Saturday.

The way Yeo has been rolling four lines this year, Yeo said nobody should get caught up on who's on the so-called third line and who's on what's considered the fourth line.

"Bottom line is if Haula plays, if Fontaine plays [with Brodziak or Haula], we're going to have four good lines. If we want to get caught up on who's on the third line, who's on the fourth line, both lines will play and both those lines will be important for us."

Yeo talked a lot about how good Jason Zucker is playing today and said he thinks Zucker and Charlie Coyle helped bring Mikko Koivu energy Thursday. Koivu was terrific with a goal, nine shots, 22 of 28 in the circle and a shootout equalizer.

If you didn't read the Vanek story, see this blog. But the bottom line is, this is not a new development. The only thing new is the defense attorney for the bookmaker who's going to prison for potentially nine years decided to give detail to Vanek's involvement.