So much for that healthy Wild lineup, which lasted a full two games.

Winger Nino Niederreiter did not participate in Tuesday’s optional morning skate nor warm-ups for the game against Calgary at Xcel Energy Center. A team spokesman confirmed Niederreiter would be out for the next week with a lower-body injury.

He did practice on Monday but sat on the bench during the warm-up skating to start and then dipped out early before the conditioning drills to end the session.

Niederreiter missed five games after leaving the Dec. 22 game at the Florida Panthers in the first period with a left foot or ankle injury. He returned Jan. 4 with a hat trick against the Buffalo Sabres, which combined with winger Zach Parise’s recovery, marked the first time the Wild had been full strength all season.

The Switzerland native also endured a high ankle sprain Oct. 12 at the Chicago Blackhawks and missed six games and nearly three weeks because of it.

 

Western Conference logjam in full force

There’s quite the logjam in the Western Conference.

Several teams are within a three-point spread hovering around the wild card spot, including the Wild and the Calgary Flames, who faced off Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center.

Winnipeg (57 points), St. Louis (55) and Nashville (54) were the top three Central Division teams entering play Tuesday. Vegas (60), Los Angeles (53) and San Jose (48) were the top three in the Pacific.

Dallas (51) was in the first wild-card spot, and that left the second wild-card position a battle between the Wild, Colorado and Anaheim (47 each); Calgary and Chicago (46 apiece).

Wild captain Mikko Koivu said Tuesday that he probably couldn’t remember a time when the playoff race was this tight in January.

“It seems that every team is up there, and it’s very close, and one win or one loss takes teams in or out of the playoffs,” Koivu said. “That’s the way it’s going to be all the way to the end. That’s why every game is critical.”

What makes this time of year especially intriguing is the bye weeks. While about half the teams are currently on one, the Wild and the rest take off next week. So stockpiling points now becomes vital.

“Yeah, we’ve talked about it. This is a big week. It’s a big week visually, I guess,” goaltender Devan Dubnyk said Monday. “You don’t want to have to sit there next week and watch teams go past. You want them to be trying to catch up. At the end of the day, we’re in playoff mode now until the end of the season. That’s just the situation it is with how jam-packed the Western Conference is. So whether it’s a bye week or not, every game from here on out is going to be extremely important of us.”

But it seems like no matter the circumstance, all NHLers agree that points are always at a premium.

“I think that can happen any week from now on,” Calgary forward Garnet Hathaway said Tuesday before the game. “This road trip before the bye week is huge. We want to gain momentum, and this is the start of the second half tonight. We’re ready to put a charge in and really push for that playoff spot right now.”

Koivu convalesced

Koivu couldn’t stay away for long. While the center missed practice Monday with the flu, he returned in time for morning skate Tuesday.

Koivu said he was feeling “good” after practice.

“It was good to get out there and get the feeling again and feel the puck and be on the skates again,” Koivu said. “That was good. Just get a good meal and a little bit of sleep and be ready to go.”

Wild coach Bruce Boudreau, for one, was happy he wouldn’t have to fill the veteran’s gap.

“It was very important that he comes out of the sick bay and gets playing,” Boudreau said. “But that’s what makes Mikko Mikko.”