Harding Starting; Prosser In

The Wild starts a home-and-home matchup with the Detroit Red Wings tonight, followed by a meeting at The Joe on Tuesday.

Josh Harding will get another start tonight, going up against the team he dazzled against two weeks ago in a 38-save masterpiece.

As for the lineup, Nate Prosser will get in after officially getting recalled today. He’ll be paired with Justin Falk, his teammate in Houston last year. In fact, four of the Wild’s six defensemen spent the majority of last season as Aeros.

Brett Bulmer will sit out for the first time tonight, which is interesting. In case you’re unaware, Bulmer can play nine games and still be sent back to his junior team in Kelowna without using up a contract year. Right now, he’s at nine. Does this mean anything? Apparently not. Head Coach Mike Yeo said he wants to get Staubitz into the lineup after sitting out on Thursday. Plus, it can be beneficial to give a newcomer like Bulmer a rest every now and again.

Tonight is Hockey Fights Cancer tonight, which means the boards at the rink tonight will be colored lavender. There may be some pink accents throughout the building as well, including some of the players’ stick tape.

Scandella Breaks Finger; Prosser Recalled

Defenseman Marco Scandella had his finger broken when he blocked a shot by Columbus’ Derek Dorsett on Saturday. Shortly after the game’s conclusion, the Wild recalled Nate Prosser, who will make his season debut tomorrow against the Montreal Canadiens.

Prosser has posted 8 goals and 15 assists through 68 games this season. He appeared in the Wild’s final three games last season and notched one assist.

The Wild remains short on defenseman with Marek Zidlicky still dealing with a lower body injury.

As a reminder, tomorrow’s game against Montreal will be played at 5:00 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 6:00.

Peters Recalled, Prosser Reassigned

2:20 p.m. CT UPDATE: Wild broadcaster Mike Greenlay has sent an update from the “morning” skate in Anaheim. Cody Almond is out with a lower-body injury and Warren Peters will take his spot in the lineup tonight. The rest of the Wild lineup will remain the same, except for Jose Theodore taking the spot in net.

Good morning, Wild fans. Hope you’ve all had an extra-large coffee this morning after staying up late to watch the Wild battle the Kings last night in L.A. That 947-minute pregame ceremony in L.A. didn’t make it any easier to get up this morning, did it? Regardless, I’m currently bouncing off my cubicle walls in anticipation of tonight’s Wild game in Anaheim – and OK, maybe my caffeine intake has something to do with that – but I’m not giving it too much credit.

The news from Anaheim is that the Wild has recalled center Warren Peters from Houston and reassigned defenseman Nate Prosser to the Aeros. The moves come after Todd Richards told the media postgame that some Wild players were banged up. Based on this morning’s transactions, that presumably means he was talking about forwards and that all six defensemen are healthy for tonight’s contest. I’ll update this post later today after more information is available at the Wild morning skate in Anaheim.

Peters was first recalled from Houston on Dec. 11 and played two games with the Wild, but did not register a point. My brotha’ from another motha’ – OK, that’s a lie since there’s no relation despite his awesome last name – averaged 6:05 TOI in his time with the Wild. The 28-year-old has 24 points (11-13=24) and 39 penalty minutes (PIM) in 55 games with Houston this season.

Elk River native Prosser was recalled by the Wild Wednesday as blueline insurance for the trip out West but was a healthy scratch last night. He’ll return to Houston where he’s posted 19 points (6-13=19) and 27 penalty minutes (PIM) in 58 games with the Aeros this season.

One important piece of the lineup we know for sure is that Jose Theodore is expected to get the start in net against the Ducks. Niklas Backstrom was stellar again last night – did you see his most-recent “WOW!” save? – but he’s earned a night off, and we all know Theo is more than capable to shut down the Ducks.

Enjoy your Friday, everyone. Though, we all know you will because you’ve got a Wild-Ducks game highlighting your schedule at 9 p.m. CT on FS North (HD) and WCCO 830. Wild.com will have all of the info on tonight’s game when our insiders in Anaheim get today’s update from Todd Richards in the early afternoon.

Prosser, Ortmeyer Both Will Get Call

It’s expected that the Minnesota Wild will recall both defenseman Nate Prosser and center Jed Ortmeyer from the Houston Aeros later tonight. Kyle Brodziak is ill and did not make the trip to California with the Wild, which necessitated Ortmeyer’s recall.

At this point, it is unknown if Brodziak will attempt to join the team at some point over the next two days, but his absence will be a challenge to an already depleted corps of forwards. As of now, Matt Cullen, John Madden, Cody Almond and Ortmeyer will be the team centers. Head Coach Todd Richards could also try Eric Nystrom or Pierre-Marc Bouchard at the center position if necessary.

This will be the first callup of the season for both players. Prosser appeared in three games with the Wild at the end of last season, and has posted 19 points (6-13=19) through 58 games with the Aeros this season. Ortmeyer was signed by the club in early January and has been with the Aeros ever since. Since his arrival, the Aeros have gone 15-5-2 as he’s tallied two goals and six assists through 22 games. He’s played 306 NHL games with the New York Rangers, Nashville and San Jose.

Heading To Finland?

I’m alone in the stands at Xcel Energy Center right now, and I’m looking at what will closely resemble the team that the Minnesota Wild will be taking to Finland on Thursday night.

First, Pierre-Marc Bouchard is one of the players out there. Todd Richards started off practice by welcoming him back, which was followed by stick-tapping from the entire team. “Butch” is the only skater in a charcoal grey jersey, which obviously means “do not hit unless you want to spend the rest of your career in Siberia.”

Now then, there are five players that are still here that could be considered “question marks,” or guys that were fighting for roster spots. They are forwards Matt Kassian and Casey Wellman, and defensemen Drew Bagnall, Justin Falk and Marco Scandella.

Although we don’t have official word, that likely means everybody who is not on the ice has been sent to Houston. Probably the biggest surprises are Robbie Earl and Nate Prosser. Earl saw a lot of time up here last year, and was one of the best players early in training camp. Prosser was solid in preseason games, but it appears that they want him to get more seasoning in Houston.

The most surprising name has to be Kassian. The rugged winger has turned some heads with his willingness to stick up for teammates and drop the gloves. He’s also shown some offensive skills, getting a couple chances in Saturday’s game against Philadelphia. Stay tuned to more news about today’s roster moves on Wild.com, where we’ll have feedback from Head Coach Todd Richards and General Manager Chuck Fletcher.