Forward Freddy Gaudreau, out since a 7-4 victory over Edmonton on Oct. 24, skated for the first time since being sidelined on Sunday, a positive sign for a Wild team still trying to find itself this season.

Part of that, of course, has been injuries to key players such as Gaudreau, Matt Boldy, Jared Spurgeon and Alex Goligoski, who have missed games this season a combined 40 times.

Spurgeon played his first game of the regular season in a 3-2 loss at Buffalo on Friday, leaving Gaudreau (upper body) and Goligoski (lower body) on the shelf. Both will travel to Sweden for weekend games against Ottawa and Toronto in Stockholm, but only Gaudreau has a chance of playing.

Evason said Gaudreau is on long-term injury reserve, which means he won’t be eligible to return until next Sunday’s game against the Maple Leafs.

“That’s a possibility,” the coach said before Sunday’s 5 p.m. puck drop at Xcel Energy Center. “We’ll see.”

Gaudreau was injured when he took a blind check from former teammate Ryan Reaves at Toronto on Oct. 14. He had to compose himself on the ice for several moments — while Reaves and Marcus Foligno traded blows — before he was able to skate off. But he returned to play and afterward said he had the wind knocked out of him.

After playing an additional four games, Gaudreau was pulled from competition.

‘Positive’ vibes

The Wild started Sunday’s game sixth in the eight-team Central Division, seven points behind first-place Dallas, and 5-7-2 overall after finishing a three-game trip through New York with consecutive losses to the Rangers and Sabres.

Thirteen of those 14 games were played without Spurgeon, whom Evason called “one of the best defensemen in the world,” and five without Boldy, the team’s second-leading goal scorer last season with 32.

Evason said the team remains positive. That includes general manager Bill Guerin.

“I talked to Billy,” Evason said Sunday. “One of the main things that he said is that we are really competing. So, if we weren’t, obviously, then we’d have some serious concerns. But we’re battling. We’re competing.”

Guerin made a substantial change to the lineup last Thursday when he traded defenseman Calen Addison to San Jose — for a low-level prospect and draft pick — and replaced him with veteran Zach Bogosian, acquired from Tampa Bay for a seventh-round draft pick.

In a 3-2 loss at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center last Friday, the Wild threw 33 shots on goal, only to be thwarted by Sabres goaltender Devon Levi, who stopped all 23 shots he saw after the first intermission.

“Their goaltender played extremely well in that game,” Evason said. “But we didn’t score. Our chance after chance after chance, eventually you have to believe it’s going to go in the net.”

Briefly

Another positive sign for Minnesota is its recent success killing penalties. After a 5-3 loss to New Jersey on Nov. 2, the Wild had the NHL’s worst penalty kill, with a league-worst 12 goals against and 63.6 percent success rate. In the four ensuing games, Minnesota has allowed two power-play goals in 13 chances, 84.6 percent.

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