Wild get Faber back after 4-game injury absence

Brock Faber returned for the Minnesota Wild against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night after missing four games because of injury.

Faber last played Jan. 7, when he left early in a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues and didn't return. The Wild went 1-3-0 without their No. 1 defenseman, earning their lone win against the lowly San Jose Sharks and getting outscored 16-8 in that span.

Minnesota has also been without previous Hart Trophy front-runner Kirill Kaprizov up front along with blue-liners Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin, all because of injuries.

Faber, who leads Minnesota in average ice time at 24:58 this season, had five goals and 15 assists over 41 games before getting hurt.

The 22-year-old was voted the Calder Trophy runner-up last season after collecting eight tallies and 39 helpers while seeing the same average ice time over 82 contests.

Minnesota came into Saturday's slate sitting third in the Central Division by points percentage (.644). The Wild ranked second in points, one more than the Dallas Stars who have a game in hand.

The Wild have lost two consecutive contests, but they've won six of their previous 10 before facing the Predators.