Wild's Ryan Hartman, bouncing back from adversity, heads into playoffs with confidence

Demoted, injured, benched.

Ryan Hartman has had a heavy helping of adversity this season, most of which prevented him from one-upping his career year from 2021-22 when he scored a whopping 34 goals and added 31 assists.

But with the playoffs on deck, Hartman has bounced back to resume a key role for the Wild.

"Feel good with where my game's at," Hartman said. "But there's still more. There's still more we can do."

Hartman reunited with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello on Tuesday vs. Winnipeg in the Wild's last home game of the regular season after Kaprizov and Zuccarello rested on Monday.

That could have been the line's final tune-up before a first-round series, but the three weren't always together this season.

After a slow start by the team, Hartman was bumped down the lineup and a carousel of players took turns at center alongside the Wild's most dynamic wingers.

Just as Hartman was starting to find a rhythm amid a change of scenery, he was punched on top of the shoulder in a fight Oct. 30 at Chicago and shelved for seven weeks. Once he healed, Hartman didn't go back to playing with Kaprizov and Hartman. He was actually a healthy scratch in January for taking too many penalties.

Not until the Wild were suffering from a shortage of goals did all three team up again after the All-Star break, and when they've all been in action, that has remained a trio.

"I knew I had some things I had to tighten up in the beginning of the year, defensively, and I wasn't being as responsible as I should and maybe cheating for offense a little bit when that's not my game at all," said Hartman, who had a quintessential performance Saturday in the 5-3 win over St. Louis when he scooped up two turnovers to score shorthanded and set up another goal in a 20-second span. "The injury, I was able to watch games and really kind of assess our team and everything."

Aside from Kaprizov and Zuccarello, captain Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin and Matt Dumba returned against the Jets after resting Monday.

Gustav Nyquist exited the lineup, what coach Dean Evason described as maintenance for the veteran with the team completing a back-to-back. Nyquist has played two games since being sidelined two-plus months with a shoulder injury, but Evason said Nyquist has come out of every game fine. He scored his first goal with the Wild in the team's 4-2 comeback at Chicago and overall has three points in those two appearances.

Newcomer Brock Faber also took a break on Tuesday, this after making an impressive NHL debut vs. the Blackhawks.

"It was a special night," Faber said, "and I'm thankful for this opportunity."

The defenseman led the Wild in ice time, logging 21 minutes, 49 seconds, and blocked a team-high six shots. That's tied for the most shot blocks by a player making his debut since the NHL began tracking blocked shots in 2005.

"We had a lot of confidence," Evason said. "We talked [about] how much to play him, this and that, and he deserved to be out there. He deserved to be out there at the end. He's got a calm demeanor about him, but his legs are real good. He skates extremely well, made simple plays.

"Real good start for him."

Dumba received the inaugural Tom Kurvers Humanitarian Award, which was voted on by his teammates and created to honor the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice while contributing to his community.

The award will be presented annually in memory of Kurvers, an assistant general manager with the Wild, former Bloomington Jefferson standout and Hobey Baker winner at Minnesota Duluth who died in 2021 after a battle with lung cancer.

Not only have Dumba's efforts to make the sport more inclusive included helping form the Hockey Diversity Alliance, but he also hosted the third annual Matt Dumba Hockey Without Limits camp in February. The Minnesota Wild Foundation will make a $5,000 donation to DinoMights on behalf of Dumba for being recognized.