Wild players keep preparing on ice while acknowledging turbulence off it

The Wild practiced Tuesday morning at Xcel Energy Center.

Kevin Fiala skated and is ready to return from an upper-body injury that sidelined him the last game.

Marcus Foligno is also good to go after missing about a month with a broken ankle, getting reunited with Jordan Greenway and Joel Eriksson Ek — the Wild's best line early in the season.

But a day earlier, hockey took a back seat.

"Taking a bit of a pause there to [reflect] and look at it and try to figure out how to best digest it and what action to take," defenseman Ian Cole said. "I think that was a good move at the time."

In the wake of unrest across the Twin Cities area after the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by police in Brooklyn Center on Sunday, the game Monday night between the Wild and Blues in St. Paul was postponed until May 12.

The team is scheduled to host the Coyotes on Wednesday, now at 1 p.m. instead of the originally planned 8 p.m. puck drop, but Wild players are still mindful of what's happening outside the rink.

"It's not always the easiest to refocus," Cole said. "I think if you think of it in terms of hockey as a bit of an oasis from these tough problems, you can go out and maybe get away from it a little bit while you're on the ice. Then obviously there's conversations being had in the locker room, and you can park the hockey and get back to important things."

Around the time of his pregame meal Monday, captain Jared Spurgeon had an idea the game might get called off.

When a text message confirmed the decision, he immediately stopped thinking about the game. The Twins and Timberwolves also postponed their games. Both teams were back in action Tuesday.

"With what the community is going through, there's much bigger things going on here than the hockey game [Monday] night," Spurgeon said.

Wright, who is Black, was killed Sunday during a traffic stop, getting shot by an officer who intended to use a Taser, according to police.

Protests and looting ensued, and the outrage came as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd last May.

And the Wild is talking about what's going on in the community, Spurgeon said, calling the Wild "a very tight-knit group" that's open with each other.

"When you genuinely care about your teammates and view them as your family, you can have tough conversations and you can have conversations that are maybe uncomfortable," Cole said. "And you know that regardless of the other person's viewpoint or where they're coming from or their situation or whatever the case may be, you know you can respect them and talk to them and discuss these tough things.

"I think that's the best way to do it. Just coming from a place of love and trying to understand as best you can."