It has been two months since we did a Wild mailbag and several months since we did an ‘Ask Russo and Smith’ mailbag, but with Joe back on the clock, there’s no better time to answer many of your questions.

The Wild are bringing Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon back from injuries as the NHL season reaches the home stretch.

The Montreal Canadiens continue their homestand as they face the Minnesota Wild. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Wild-Canadiens prediction and pick. The Wild come into Wednesday night at 29-17-4 on the year,

ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild held a practice on Wednesday and are set to host the Utah Hockey Club for a game on Thursday night. The Wild have some positive news surrounding the team. Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon were full participants during practice and seem likely to return to the lineup on Thursday.

PAUL - The Minnesota Wild (28-15-4) are in action tonight against the Utah Hockey Club (20-19-7) for the third meeting between the two teams this year. The Wild are welcoming Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon into the lineup tonight.

It wasn't an overly convincing win, but the Wild got the job done against one of the worst teams in the NHL on Sunday evening. They started hot, then held on and were able to avoid blowing a 3-0 lead in a 4-2 road victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Andrei Kuzmenko had two goals and an assist, and the Calgary Flames used their power play to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4. Kuzmenko and Rasmus Andersson each had a power-play goal, and Martin Pospisil and Clark Bishop also scored for Calgary.

On their seventh try, they finally eluded Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek 5 minutes, 43 seconds into the first period when Spurgeon sent the puck past Mrazek’s blocker after a 4-on-2 rush for the Wild. Marco Rossi factored into the play to pick up an assist on the Wild’s past four goals, tying a team record for the second time this season.

The Chicago Blackhawks came into Sunday night’s action looking to get back into the win column. They had dropped their last two games in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Goalie Filip Gustavsson’s 18 saves and Marcus Foligno’s empty-netter preserved earlier goals from captain Jared Spurgeon, Frederick Gaudreau and Joel Eriksson Ek as the Wild moved to 18-5-3 on the road.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild were meeting in tumultuous times. Both teams had lost their previous two games, with Minnesota losing 5-4 to the Calgary Flames the night before.

After allowing just five shots in the first two periods, the Wild had to scramble to keep the lead against Chicago in a narrow 4-2 win.