Wild hope to have Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman in Game 3 vs. Stars

The Wild hope to have Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman in action on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center when they square off against the Stars in Game 3.

This first-round, best-of-series is tied at 1.

"Whoever is in our lineup tonight regardless we need to play better than we did in Game 2," coach Dean Evason said, "and we're looking forward to doing that."

Eriksson Ek has been sidelined suffering a lower-body injury on April 6 at Pittsburgh from blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot. Hartman missed Game 2 with a lower-body injury after scoring the game-winner in Game 1. The Wild were routed 7-3 in Game 2.

"All positions are important, clearly," Evason said. "But when you have your arguably 1-2 center icemen out, it's difficult, right? There's a lot to make up there. Dallas is extremely strong down the middle and they have a lot of like we do, too, we have a lot of wingers who can play center and take faceoffs as well.

"They have a lot of people there who make it difficult for us when we don't have two of our guys up the middle."

John Klingberg looks ready to return.

He has yet to play in the series after getting hurt in last Saturday's practice. The defenseman left the morning skate before Jon Merrill and Alex Goligoski. Filip Gustavsson was the first goalie off the ice, suggesting he'll be back in net after a 51-save performance in the Wild's 3-2, double-overtime victory in Game 1.

Projected lineup:

Kirill Kaprizov-Sam Steel-Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Johansson-Matt Boldy-Marcus Foligno

Gus Nyquist-Frederick Gaudreau-Oskar Sundqvist

Brandon Duhaime-Connor Dewar-Ryan Reaves

Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

John Klingberg-Brock Faber

Filip Gustavsson

Key numbers:

3: Assists for Gus Nyquist through two games.

5: Power play goals for Dallas in 11 chances.

23-7-3: Record for the Wild at home since Nov.19.

56.4: Win percentage for the Stars on faceoffs.

.919: Save percentage for Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger.

Pregame statistics, win probability and betting line

About the Stars:

Roope Hintz's hat trick in Game 2 tied the Stars' team record for goals in a playoff game. Hintz became the 15th different player in Stanley Cup Playoffs history with an even-strength goal, power-play goal and shorthanded goal in a game. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen finished with four assists and has five overall in the series. Heiskanen's four assists in Game 2 tied the franchise record for most assists in a playoff game by a defenseman. With the victory in Game 2, Oettinger became the first Minnesota-born goalie to win in the playoffs against a Minnesota-based team.