Wild's Nic Deslauriers to return vs. Stars; Marc-Andre Fleury starts

Nic Deslauriers will be back in action on Thursday when the Wild kicks off a two-game road trip at Dallas.

DALLAS — Nic Deslauriers will be back in action on Thursday when the Wild kicks off a two-game road trip at Dallas after a shot block sidelined him for a pair of games.

"Two games is too long to not play," Deslauriers said. "It's good enough, so back at it."

In the event Deslauriers couldn't play, the Wild recalled forward Connor Dewar from Iowa in the American Hockey League.

Dewar is the only extra forward the team currently has on this trip; Jordan Greenway is out with an upper-body injury suffered Tuesday in the 5-1 victory against the Oilers.

Defenseman Jon Merrill is with the Wild, but he'll remain out with an upper-body injury. Coach Dean Evason said the team is being cautious with his return. As for Matt Dumba, the defenseman is skating back in Minnesota as he recovers from an upper-body injury.

The Wild will make one other lineup change vs. the Stars, starting Marc-Andre Fleury in net.

Fleury is 4-1 with the Wild since a trade last month from the Blackhawks, and he has a 2.44 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in those games.

This is the last time the Wild will face Dallas in the regular season, and the Stars have had the edge so far by winning twice over three previous games.

"They do a lot of real good things," Evason said. "They're a real good hockey club with a lot of speed up front, a lot of veterans, a lot of big bodies, too. They're a good hockey club that's given us trouble that we have to try to figure out tonight."