Jonas Brodin answers the bell for Wild after Brock Faber is injured

A nearly three-minute shift after already skating half the game sounds exhausting, and getting pelted by the puck on the right skate looked painful.

But how did Jonas Brodin feel?

Like he was having a ball.

“It’s fun to be playing those situations when it’s on the line,” he said. “I love to play those minutes. That’s what you dream of when you’re a kid, play those tight games and those shifts.

“I love it. You forget you’re tired when you’re on the ice.”

That ironman finish by Brodin alongside Zach Bogosian, who was on the ice for three seconds more than Brodin’s 2:41, should have smelled like victory since their ferocious defending helped the Wild preserve their rally, 6-4, over St. Louis on Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center, and it apparently tastes like pizza.

After logging a career-high 33:02, blocking four shots, issuing three hits and assisting on a goal, Brodin figured he might order a pie to recover.

“Just take it easy and then get back on it on Thursday against Colorado,” he said.

Already looking ahead to what’s next for the Wild makes Brodin’s performance seem routine, but it’s not.

Actually, the night was a badge of honor for the entire blue line that’s been besieged by injury, and the defense was deserving of the kudos it received for another bend-don’t-break effort that will have the Wild going for a fifth straight win to match their season high when they face the Avalanche for the first time this season.

“The D-core really stepped up going down a man early again,” Jake Middleton said. “But we’ve kind of continued to do that throughout the year, so it’s nothing new for us.”

Maybe that’s the best explanation for why the Wild’s defense keeps bouncing back: This is old hat.

In October, captain Jared Spurgeon was sidelined to continue his recovery from last season’s hip and back surgeries. Before Thanksgiving, Brodin exited. Last month, Middleton took a shot off the hand and missed 11 games before returning against the Blues.

Spurgeon is out again after getting slew-footed into the boards last week, and then barely half a period into Tuesday’s action, Brock Faber left with an upper-body injury and didn’t return. Coach John Hynes did not have an injury update on Faber during a radio appearance Wednesday morning.

Initially, the Wild’s shorthanded defense was shaky; the team coughed up a 2-0 head start and was behind 4-2 not even five minutes into the second period after the Blues blitzed the Wild on four consecutive goals to chase goaltender Filip Gustavsson out of the net.

“We got away from our game a little bit in the second,” Bogosian said. “Unfortunately, we let up a few, and that’s on us. That’s not on Gus.”

But the Wild cleaned up their zone.

St. Louis had a measly two shots the rest of the second, and the Wild weathered the Blues’ push in the third after regaining the lead.

Middleton scored the 4-4 equalizer after setting up Bogosian in a first period that also included a Jon Merrill goal, and Matt Boldy buried the game-winner on a two-on-one rush with Mats Zuccarello.

This was only the 10th time in Wild history three defensemen capitalized in the same game.

“Our D-core is a six-man unit,” Middleton said. “Whoever’s in every night is finding ways to produce and make the most of the opportunities they’re getting.”

Then there was the defense’s late-game lockdown to withstand St. Louis’ six-on-five attack.

Brodin and Bogosian, who had a season-high five hits, had their shifts prolonged by three icings, and they combined for four shot blocks before Marcus Johansson relieved the pressure with an empty-netter.

“It’s a fun D-core to be a part of,” Bogosian said. “No matter who you’re jumping over the boards with, it’s pretty easy to find chemistry.”

That might be the unit’s calling card, that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The depth chart has been in flux most of the season, with Merrill going from scratch to regular, Declan Chisholm taking on more responsibility and even waiver-wire pickup Travis Dermott pinch hitting when needed.

There are minute magnets like Brodin and Faber, a stay-at-home specialist in Bogosian, and Middleton and Spurgeon have been two-way catalysts.

But regardless of who’s in and who’s out, the Wild have given up fewer goals than they’ve scored, and that’s why they keep winning.

“They’re all playing to their identity,” Hynes said. “They’re rising to the occasion in the roles that we need them to play in.”

Xcel Energy Center, 7 p.m. Thursday

TV; radio: FanDuel Sports Network North Extra; 100.3 FM

Wild update: After almost a month in the minors, D David Jiricek is rejoining the Wild. Jiricek, a right shot whom the Wild acquired in a November trade with Columbus for a first-rounder and three other picks, had two assists in 11 games with Iowa in the American Hockey League. Because he was added under emergency conditions, the Wild could be down another defenseman besides Brock Faber since they do have Travis Dermott already on the roster. Faber left in the first period of the 6-4 win over St. Louis on Tuesday with an upper-body injury. The Wild also shifted LW Jakub Lauko (lower body) to long-term injured reserve for salary-cap flexibility and assigned F Devin Shore to Iowa, leaving them temporarily shorthanded up front, but the team is expected to get back to 12 forwards for the game.

Avalanche update: Colorado lost 3-1 at Chicago on Wednesday night, beginning its three-game road trip. Going into that game, the Avalanche had been on an 8-1-1 tear. They haven’t dropped back-to-back games since Nov. 29-30. This surge comes after an uneven start for Colorado. The Avalanche lost the first four games of the season and seven of their initial 12.

Injuries: Wild D Brock Faber (upper body) left last game and didn’t return. LW Kirill Kaprizov (lower body) and D Jared Spurgeon (lower body) are on injured reserve. LW Jakub Lauko (lower body) is on long-term injured reserve. Avalanche LW Jonathan Drouin (upper body) did not play Wednesday. C Ivan Ivan (upper body), D Oliver Kylington (upper body), LW Gabriel Landeskog (knee), RW Valeri Nichushkin (lower body), G Scott Wedgewood (leg) and LW Miles Wood (upper body) are out.