A trio of United States Olympic gold medal winners are about to return “home.”

It’s likely that fans from the “State of Hockey” will welcome them back with a roar.

Matt Boldy and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber will be front and center when the Minnesota Wild face off against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minn. It will be their first home game since Feb. 2 for the Wild, who had a three-week break for the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Faber might get the loudest cheer when he is recognized as part of a U.S. team that won the nation’s first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980. The local product grew up in suburban Maple Grove, Minn., and starred collegiately for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

How’s he feeling after the whirlwind of February?

“Good enough, right?” Faber said. “I played hockey the whole time, so I’m still in game shape.”

The Wild have split their two games since returning from the Olympic break. They stormed to a 5-2 road win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night but lost by the same score versus the Utah Mammoth on Friday.

The loss might have come with added cost as veteran forward Joel Eriksson Ek left the game after taking a high stick to the face.

Eriksson Ek’s status is uncertain for Sunday. He has 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 54 games this season.

“We all know the type of player ‘Ekky’ is and the situations we count on him to play in,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It’s unfortunate, but hopefully he’s OK.”

St. Louis also will try to bounce back from a loss after falling short 3-1 against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Pavel Buchnevich scored the lone goal for the Blues.

Blues forward Jake Neighbours said he and his teammates needed to come out with a better effort against the Wild. He said the team recorded a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday because of a great effort level and lost its most recent game because of a reduced effort level.

“To me, it’s battles,” Neighbours said. “I thought on Thursday, our compete (level) was really high. We were excited. There was a lot of energy on the bench and in the dressing room.

“For whatever reason, (on Saturday), it just didn’t seem like we could muster up the momentum and the energy to take over the game.”

Joel Hofer could get the start for the Blues in net one night after Jordan Binnington turned aside 30 of 32 shots against the Devils. Hofer is 13-11-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage this season, and he is 1-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .944 save percentage in his only career game against Minnesota.

Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson likely will get the nod after fellow netminder Jesper Wallstedt started against Utah. Gustavsson is 21-9-6 with a 2.60 GAA and a .909 save percentage this season, and he is 5-2-0 with a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage in eight career appearances against the Blues.

–Field Level Media

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers do not have to be reminded that five of the eight teams currently occupying a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference did not make the postseason last year.

And the Panthers will get another glimpse at a team attempting to take their spot in the tournament Sunday night, when Florida opens a four-game road trip by visiting the surging New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y.

The Panthers are coming off a 3-2 loss to the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Friday night. The Islanders are completing a back-to-back set after overcoming a two-goal deficit Saturday night and edging the host Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3, in overtime.

The loss Friday was the sixth in eight games for the Panthers (2-6-0), who are eight points behind the Boston Bruins in the race for the second wild-card spot with 23 games to play.

The Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Sabres — the latter of whom are in second place in the Atlantic Division — all missed the playoffs last year.

A reigning Stanley Cup champion hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2015, when the Los Angeles Kings came up two points shy of a tournament berth.

A spate of injuries has endangered the Panthers’ pursuit of the NHL’s first three-peat since the Islanders won the Stanley Cup four consecutive times from 1980-83. Captain Aleksander Barkov has yet to play due to a right knee injury suffered in training camp while Matthew Tkachuk has played just 12 games following offseason surgery for a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle. Tkachuk and Barkov were Florida’s second- and third-leading scorers last season, respectively.

The Panthers’ fortunes haven’t improved since returning from the Olympic break. Right winger Cole Schwindt will be out indefinitely with a lower body injury suffered in Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs while Uvis Balinskis was slated to be evaluated Saturday after exiting Friday’s game due to injury.

“Not cheating on effort,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re doing the best we can.”

Simon Holmstrom’s goal 1:47 into overtime Saturday continued a pair of trends for the Islanders, whose effort to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence has featured plenty of comeback wins and extra session dramatics.

New York is tied for second place in the Metropolitan Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have two games in hand. The Penguins also missed the playoffs last season.

The win Saturday was the fourth straight for the Islanders, who have trailed in three of those victories — including Thursday night’s 4-3 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens in which New York also came back from a 2-0 second-period deficit.

Holmstrom’s goal improved the Islanders to 8-0 in games decided in overtime. New York trailed in regulation in all eight overtime wins.

The only team in NHL history to record more overtime wins without a loss in a single season are the 2021 Vegas Golden Knights, who went 9-0 in overtime during the pandemic-shortened 56-game campaign.

“At the end of the day … I feel like we’re calm and we just focus on what needs to be done,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re behind. We find ways to get back into the game.”

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Clippers’ dramatic turnaround has taken a few baby steps backward.

They’ll try to regain their footing when they host the improving New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night.

The Clippers followed a 7-21 start with a 20-10 surge and they are in strong position to qualify for the play-in tournament, but they’ve lost their past three games as injuries have hampered them.

“Our guys are going to play hard, they’re going to compete and put you in a position to win the game,” head coach Tyronn Lue said. “And that’s kind of been the last three games — just be able to play hard, compete.”

Guard Darius Garland (left toe injury) has yet to make his L.A. debut since being acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a mid-season shakeup that saw the Clippers trade away James Harden and center Ivica Zubac. Garland appears close to returning but has been ruled out for Sunday.

L.A. also played without Kawhi Leonard (ankle) and John Collins (head) in a 94-88 home loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. Kris Dunn assumed a larger role and responded with 11 points, seven assists, six rebounds and one steal in 32 minutes.

“I’m just trying to be a connector on the team,” Dunn said. “Whatever the coaching staff asks me to do, I just try to do it. If that’s to be on the ball, be off the ball, that’s just locking somebody up, I just try to do what I can do.”

The Clippers expect to have Leonard (28.0 points per game) back and Collins (13.8) is listed as questionable for the game against New Orleans. They have leaned on newcomer Bennedict Mathurin to boost the offense, and he has averaged 20.7 points in his first six games.

The Pelicans have won four consecutive games after beating the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Thursday and Saturday.

Saddiq Bey followed his season-high 42-point game Thursday with a team-high 24 points in a 115-105 win Saturday. New Orleans led by 27 points in both games before seeing the leads shrink to single digits.

“Getting two wins here is fantastic,” interim head coach James Borrego said. “But we’ve got to close better.”

New Orleans lost second-leading scorer Zion Williamson to a right ankle injury after he played just 11 minutes Saturday. His status for Sunday is uncertain, but leading scorer Trey Murphy III could return from a five-game absence due to a right shoulder contusion.

Point guard Dejounte Murray is likely to return after sitting out the front of this back-to-back on Saturday in the wake of playing his first two games since undergoing Achilles surgery last January.

But the team still had plenty of offensive production in the two games against the Jazz. They had a season-high 37 assists on 46 field goals Thursday and 32 assists on 39 field goals Saturday.

“We’re being much more efficient in transition,” Borrego said. “The guys have been sharing the basketball, having around 30 assists every night, not caring who gets the credit or who gets the shot, just making the right, simple play.”

–Field Level Media