The Wild got a key piece back when Matt Boldy returned Thursday from a seven-game injury absence and earned three assists. It didn’t help the Wild beat the New Jersey Devils, however, as the Wild fell to 3-5-2 this season.

The team will be without Jared Spurgeon and Freddy Gaudreau again on Saturday against the New York Rangers but, coach Dean Evason said, “Who cares?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “The New Jersey Devils didn’t give a (darn) that Jared Spurgeon was not in the lineup or in the lineup, so what do we care? There’s 20 guys that dress for every game; you play your butt off or you’re not gonna have success.”

Spurgeon, out with an upper body injury since an Oct. 4 preseason game at Chicago, practiced for a second time on Friday, and for longer than on Wednesday, but has been ruled unavailable for Saturday — the first day he is eligible to return from long-term injury reserve.

Gaudreau, out with an upper body injury he tried to play through, hasn’t returned to skating. Neither has defenseman Alex Goligoski, out with a lower body injury since Oct. 16.

Briefly

Daemon Hunt is expected to play in his third NHL game on Saturday, likely in place of Jon Merrill. Hunt made his league debut during a three-game road trip last week and played a total of 9 minutes, 45 seconds.