The Wild returned to practice Tuesday after two days off for players, a welcome chance for bodies to heal and minds to reset after 71 NHL hockey games.

But there was no getting past the fact that those 48 hours were terrible for the Wild’s postseason prospects because while the Wild rested, the three teams directly ahead of them in the Western Conference standings went 4-0-1.

“Back to business,” veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said after an hour-long practice at TRIA Rink Tuesday morning. “(It) can’t change the way we think or play.”

Minnesota resumes play Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks at Xcel Energy Center with little margin for error in its quest to make the playoffs for the fourth straight season, eight points out of a wild card spot with just 11 regular-season games remaining.

After losing to St. Louis, 5-4 in overtime, on Saturday afternoon, the Wild had pulled within four points of Vegas for the eighth spot in the West, and the last of two conference wild card spots. After Golden Knights victories over Columbus and St. Louis, that was eight when the Wild returned to practice.

“I know I didn’t scoreboard-watch,” coach John Hynes said. “Now, we’re back at practice today. We’ll have a good meeting tomorrow and another practice, and we’ll get right back into play.”

The bad news is that with a game Tuesday at Nashville, Vegas could have a chance to put 10 points between them and Minnesota before the Wild drop the puck against the Sharks. The good news is they should have two of their best players back.

Center Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin each went through a complete, lively practice on Tuesday and appear on pace to play in Thursday’s 7 p.m. puck drop.

“Reading and reacting, some confrontational things, a lot of game situations,” Hynes said. “Both looked good. So we’ll see how they respond to that, and then we’ve got another day tomorrow.”

Both players have been out with lower-body injuries. Eriksson Ek, second on the team with 29 goals and 60 points, hasn’t played since March 12. Brodin, one of the team’s top veteran defensemen, was injured late in a 4-0 victory at Anaheim on March 19.

“Big part of the team, obviously,” Fleury said. “Two key guys for us. Hopefully it went well for them today. I haven’t seen them (since practice), but it’s good to have them back.”

Forward Marcus Foligno did not practice Tuesday, but Hynes said it was a maintenance day. Foligno has been playing on a lower body injury suffered Feb. 9 in a 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh.

“The plan is for him to practice tomorrow,” Hynes said. “We’re just trying to manage him for the games.”

Briefly

The Wild have signed St. Cloud State defenseman Jack Peart to a three-year, entry-level contract starting next season. The Grand Rapids native was a second-round pick in the 2021 entry draft. In 108 career games with the Huskies, Peart recorded eight goals, 55 points and 113 blocked shots.

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Lori Barghini and Julia Cobbs surprised listeners and friends Tuesday afternoon when they announced on-air that they were ending their long-running “Lori and Julia” radio show on myTalk 107.1.

The pair said they’ll be on the air until the end of June and are planning numerous events to celebrate their partnership and show. They made the decision due to Barghini’s desire for more free time as well as the rigors of producing the show for more than 20 years.

“This girl needs more time to fart around and they’re not willing to give it to me,” Barghini said with a laugh. She said the duo had been thinking about ending the show for some time now and that they kept their decision a secret until they announced it on Tuesday’s show. They said they were lucky to leave on their own terms rather than be abruptly shown the door, which is common in the radio business.

St. Paul native Cobbs and Barghini, a self-described Army brat who spent time living in Duluth in her youth, first met in the early ’90s, when they were both working for Carlson Cos. Barghini worked in negotiated preferred supplier agreements when Cobbs took a job as a marketing manager.

“I remember Julia poked her head around the corner when she was just starting — her cube was going to be next to me — and she said, ‘Hi, I’m Julia!’ And I thought, ‘Look at how cute that girl is. She’s going to be my friend,’ ” Barghini said in a 2004 Pioneer Press interview.

In 1999, the pair invented Bodyperks, a silicone nipple meant to enhance the appearance of women’s breasts. To promote the product, they did hundreds of television and radio interviews and realized they had a future in radio after a producer for the cable channel Oxygen suggested they should co-host their own talk show.

Three years later, Barghini and Cobbs were among the first hosts hired when Hubbard Broadcasting launched myTalk, a talk radio station devoted to women.

Each weekday from 3 to 6 p.m., the pair discuss such topics as celebrity news and gossip, fashion, books, movies and current events, all while speaking freely about their friendship that’s lasted several decades.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Lori and Julia aren’t too proud to beg on SAG red carpet

“I love you, my sister,” Cobbs said Tuesday while choking back tears.

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By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. (AP Entertainment Writer)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyer said Tuesday that the searches of the rapper’s Los Angeles and Miami properties by federal authorities in a sex trafficking investigation were ”a gross use of military-level force” and that Combs is “innocent and will continue to fight” to clear his name.

It’s the first public statement from the music mogul’s team since Monday’s raids of his homes by Homeland Security Investigations agents.

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” said the statement from attorney Aaron Dyer. “There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated.”

The searches were part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Combs was not detained and spoke to authorities, and neither he nor any family members were arrested, nor has their travel been restricted, according to Dyer’s statement.

Dyer said the “unprecedented ambush” has led to a “premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”

“There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations,” Dyer said. “Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”

Combs’ sons, Justin and Christian “King” Combs, were handcuffed during the raid at their father’s residence in Los Angeles. King, 25, is a music artist whose song “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” with Kodak Black topped Billboard’s Mainstream R&B Hip-Hop charts in 2022.

Law enforcement conducted the raid Monday at Combs’ multimillion-dollar mansion in the affluent Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles and his Miami waterfront home. Along with a heavy presence of officers, command trucks were parked outside both properties.

The criminal investigation is a major escalation in the scrutiny of Combs, who has been the defendant in several sexual abuse lawsuits in recent months.

In a lawsuit Combs settled the day after it was filed in November, his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them.

In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them.

Another of Combs’ accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17.

Combs and his attorneys have denied all of the lawsuits’ allegations.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Cassie did.

It is not clear whether the search is related to any of the allegations raised in the lawsuits.

Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he built one of hip-hop’s biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112.

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