It has been two months since we did a Wild mailbag and several months since we did an ‘Ask Russo and Smith’ mailbag, but with Joe back on the clock, there’s no better time to answer many of your questions.

The Wild are bringing Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon back from injuries as the NHL season reaches the home stretch.

The Chicago Blackhawks came into Sunday night’s action looking to get back into the win column. They had dropped their last two games in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Goalie Filip Gustavsson’s 18 saves and Marcus Foligno’s empty-netter preserved earlier goals from captain Jared Spurgeon, Frederick Gaudreau and Joel Eriksson Ek as the Wild moved to 18-5-3 on the road.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild were meeting in tumultuous times. Both teams had lost their previous two games, with Minnesota losing 5-4 to the Calgary Flames the night before.

After allowing just five shots in the first two periods, the Wild had to scramble to keep the lead against Chicago in a narrow 4-2 win.

It wasn't an overly convincing win, but the Wild got the job done against one of the worst teams in the NHL on Sunday evening. They started hot, then held on and were able to avoid blowing a 3-0 lead in a 4-2 road victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Andrei Kuzmenko had two goals and an assist, and the Calgary Flames used their power play to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4. Kuzmenko and Rasmus Andersson each had a power-play goal, and Martin Pospisil and Clark Bishop also scored for Calgary.

It appeared to be a tight game until the very end when the Flames pulled ahead, the Wild responded but the Flames got the win.

The Minnesota Wild aim to break their three-game home skid with a win against the Calgary Flames. Minnesota has a 28-16-4 record overall and an 11-11-1 record in home games. The Wild have given up 136 goals while scoring 138 for a +2 scoring differential.

PAUL - The Minnesota Wild (28-15-4) are in action tonight against the Utah Hockey Club (20-19-7) for the third meeting between the two teams this year. The Wild are welcoming Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon into the lineup tonight.

A couple of weeks ago, the NHL announced the first and second Quarter-Century teams for the Minnesota Wild, and it’s time to take a look at who they chose.