The Minnesota Wild lost to the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in preseason action Tuesday night. Marek Zidlicky, Mikko Koivu, and Brett Bulmer scored for the Wild. Minnesota has two preseason games remaining - at Columbus on Thursday before hosting Edmonton on Friday.

After missing 32 of the last 34 games with a concussion, Guillaume Latendresse has returned to practice with the Wild. The Star Tribune reports Latendresse skated with Mikko Koivu today, who is out with a shoulder injury. The Wild start the second half of the NHL season tomorrow night, hosting Nashville.

The Wild could be short-handed Saturday afternoon against the Vancouver Canucks. Mikko Koivu, Guillaume Latendresse, and Greg Zanon are questionable for the game. Koivu needed ten stitches after taking a skate to the chin Thursday against Edmonton.

The Wild could have easily folded after going down 2-0 to the Blackhawks a night after losing a hard-fought game in Winnipeg, but rallied twice and earned one point in a 4-3 shootout loss to Chicago. Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cullen and Mikko Koivu scored for Minnesota.

After a great start to the season on the power play the Minnesota Wild are suddenly struggling. Big names like Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Mikko Koivu, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard should allow for success with a man advantage, but it hasn't so far.

Newcomers Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi are expected to make their Minnesota debuts Friday night when the Wild play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Before then, rookie first-round pick Zach Phillips will play in the Wild's second preseason game, Thursday night against St. Louis.

The Blue Jackets beat the Wild 3-1 Tuesday night in Columbus. Nate Prosser, who just signed a contract extension, scored the lone Wild goal, tying the game 1-1 in the first period. Niklas Backstrom took the loss allowing three goals on 37 shots.