Wild's Nic Deslauriers to return vs. Stars; Marc-Andre Fleury starts

DALLAS — Nic Deslauriers will be back in action on Thursday when the Wild kicks off a two-game road trip at Dallas after a shot block sidelined him for a pair of games.

"Two games is too long to not play," Deslauriers said. "It's good enough, so back at it."

In the event Deslauriers couldn't play, the Wild recalled forward Connor Dewar from Iowa in the American Hockey League.

Dewar is the only extra forward the team currently has on this trip; Jordan Greenway is out with an upper-body injury suffered Tuesday in the 5-1 victory against the Oilers.

Defenseman Jon Merrill is with the Wild, but he'll remain out with an upper-body injury. Coach Dean Evason said the team is being cautious with his return. As for Matt Dumba, the defenseman is skating back in Minnesota as he recovers from an upper-body injury.

The Wild will make one other lineup change vs. the Stars, starting Marc-Andre Fleury in net.

Fleury is 4-1 with the Wild since a trade last month from the Blackhawks, and he has a 2.44 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in those games.

This is the last time the Wild will face Dallas in the regular season, and the Stars have had the edge so far by winning twice over three previous games.

"They do a lot of real good things," Evason said. "They're a real good hockey club with a lot of speed up front, a lot of veterans, a lot of big bodies, too. They're a good hockey club that's given us trouble that we have to try to figure out tonight."

Projected lineup:

Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello

Tyson Jost-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno

Kevin Fiala-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy

Nic Deslauriers-Nick Bjugstad-Brandon Duhaime

Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Dmitry Kulikov

Jordie Benn-Alex Goligoski

Marc-Andre Fleury

Key numbers:

3: Goals by winger Kevin Fiala over his last three games.

6: Points for winger Kirill Kaprizov during a four-game point streak.

10: Goals for center Ryan Hartman through the past 21 games.

19: Points for winger Mats Zuccarello over his past 20 games.

263: Goals by the Wild this season, which ties the franchise record.

About the Stars:

Dallas is battling for a wild card spot in the Western Conference and currently has the second invite with 88 points, three ahead of challenger Vegas. The Stars have won two in a row, most recently blanking the Lightning 1-0 on Tuesday. Against the Wild, Dallas has won four of the past five meetings at American Airlines Center. Captain Jamie Benn has three goals and two assists in three games vs. the Wild this season. Winger Jason Robertson scored a hat trick the last time these two teams faced off.