The Minnesota Wild have battled the injury bug all season long — but they'll be fully healthy ahead of a critical regular-season finale against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. Key defensemen Jared Spurgeon and Jake Middleton will both return to the lineup for the tilt, NHL.com's Jessi Pierce confirmed.

Middleton has been out of the lineup since getting hit from behind by New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat during a 3-1 loss on April 4. He was back on the ice for an optional practice on Monday morning after missing four consecutive games.

Spurgeon has missed just one contest — a 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday — after taking a puck to the throat in a 4-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Friday night.

“It was fine for the rest of the shift and then sort of when the whistle went I stood up and everything started to spin, and balance was sort of gone and stuff was starting to blur,” Spurgeon said afterwards, per Pierce. “So, obviously a little panic for a bit there, not really sure what's going on. I'm just happy with the way it's recovered.”

Both defensemen are used to playing upwards of 20 minutes a night for Minnesota, and will be a welcome sight on Tuesday night in the State of Hockey. The Wild are oh-so-close to clinching a spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing out on the dance last season.

Wild need just 1 point to clinch postseason berth

Currently 44-30-7 through 81 games, the Wild need just one point to clinch the top wildcard berth in the Western Conference. They are one point ahead of the St. Louis Blues, and own the regulation wins tiebreaker 33/31.

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Minnesota is also three points up on the Calgary Flames, but the Flames have two games left in their regular season. If the Wild lose in regulation to the Ducks, and both the Blues and Flames win all of their remaining games, they would miss the playoffs for a second straight year.

That's an unlikely scenario, but it's obvious the squad would love to take care of business against an Anaheim team that has already been mathematically eliminated, rather than hoping for things out of their control later this week.

“We know the position we're in,” Spurgeon said, per Pierce. “Last one of the regular season is a big one for us, so just play our game. The last game (Saturday), the third period I thought we played so aggressively and that's what led us to being able to tie the game and come back and win for some huge points. We’ve still got a big one here tonight.”

The Wild have been decimated by injuries in 2024-25, but with Spurgeon, Middleton, Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek all back in the lineup, this is a completely different team ahead of the postseason.

All they have to do now is win one more game and they'll be locked in for a matchup against the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights in Round 1.