Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Arizona

The essentials

The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
The Wild and Arizona Coyotes will drop the puck a little earlier than originally scheduled on Wednesday, with the two postseason hopefuls getting underway shortly after 1 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.
For Minnesota, it's the club's first game since a 3-2 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at Enterprise Center. The same teams were expected to play Monday night in St. Paul, a game that was postponed out of respect for the tragic incident involving Daunte Wright on Sunday in Brooklyn Center. That game will be made up on May 12.

Wednesday's contest is the first for the Wild since the NHL Trade Deadline passed on Monday, and while the team didn't make any deals ahead of the deadline, it is getting a critical member of its club back from injury as Marcus Foligno is expected to return after missing more than a month with a lower-body injury.
Foligno was injured, ironically, against the Coyotes on March 12 when he took a Jonas Brodin slap shot to the lower right leg. He's missed the past 15 games.
"It's a little different being injured in a year like this because of the number of games you miss in a short time," Foligno said on Monday. "So obviously I'm just excited to be back with guys and to contribute to what we've been doing."
Before the injury, Foligno was having perhaps his best season as a pro, scoring seven goals and 16 points in just 23 games while also posting a plus-13.
The offensive numbers had him on pace to crush his previous prorated career highs. In addition to his offense, his ability to kill penalties and play a physical game, as well as his leadership were sorely missed.

"We've talked about his presence around the group and he's a presence, he's a big presence on our hockey club," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "Clearly he hasn't been in the locker room getting dressed with the guys, but he has been around his teammates. We're excited about having him on the ice and in the room full-time."
So influential is Foligno to the Wild's mix, Wild GM Bill Guerin compared getting him back akin to acquiring a big piece at the trade deadline.
"One-hundred percent it does. And you know what, it's great to have him back. It's like making a trade," Guerin said. "When you're without one of your top guys for a month, that's a long time. Four weeks, there's a lot of games tucked in there that we were without one of our leaders. To get him back is definitely a bonus.
"Getting Marcus back is a big lift."
The Coyotes come to St. Paul riding a four-game losing streak, having dropped outside the top-4 in the West Division standings. The first four teams in each division make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.
Arizona currently sits in fifth place with 43 points, one point behind fourth-place St. Louis and eight back of the third-place Wild. Minnesota also has three games in hand, while St. Louis has played two fewer games.
The Coyotes also have the San Jose Sharks just three points behind them in the standings, with the Sharks holding two games in hand as well.
Arizona is knee-deep in its most important stretch of the season.
The game Wednesday wraps a nine-game road trip for the Coyotes, one that began on March 31. it returns home to play the Blues on Saturday before Minnesota heads to the desert for two games early next week.
Two road games against the Sharks loom the following week.
Veteran forward Phil Kessel leads the Coyotes with 15 goals and 33 points. Conor Garland, who started the season hot, has a team-best 21 assists, but has scored just one goal in his past 13 games and two his last 19.
Six Coyotes have scored at least 10 goals, but five of those have tallied no more than 12.
Each of Arizona's top goaltenders, Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta, have been sidelined with injuries of late, which means Adin Hill has carried the mail recently.
Hill has started twice against the Wild this season, allowing three goals in each game as Minnesota won both times at Xcel Energy Center last month.
On the season, Hill is 7-7-1 with a 2.89 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.