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Minnesota’s Coyle, Brodin and Backstrom make progress

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The Minnesota Wild broke a three-game losing streak by topping Nashville 2-0 on NBC SN Tuesday, but they’re still a little banged-up as a team. On the bright side, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Michael Russo presents some good news for injured players Jonas Brodin, Charlie Coyle and Niklas Backstrom:


  • Brodin, 20, might not need to undergo surgery on his gnarly broken cheekbone. Even better, he might skate on Friday, though with a full cage and possibly without his Wild teammates.
  • Coyle’s getting closer to a return as he recovers from a knee injury. The downside is that he’ll wear a knee brace for the first time in his career and doesn’t have an exact timetable for the 21-year-old return from that sprained MCL.
  • Backstrom, 35, feels good enough to at least back up Josh Harding. One can understand if the Wild are more than OK with him taking his time to return, being that Harding’s playing like a No. 1 goalie in his own right.
  • The news for Keith Ballard, 30, isn’t as good; he didn’t skate and will miss his fifth consecutive game on Thursday (vs. the Carolina Hurricanes at 8 p.m. ET).

So, overall, some pretty good news for the Wild. After tonight’s home game vs. Carolina, Minnesota faces a home-and-home and Chicago followed by five of seven games in Minnesota.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins