Minnesota Wild center Erik Haula could barely get himself to watch.

And yet, after being sidelined for Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series by an undisclosed injury, that’s the only thing Haula could do.

“You have no idea,” Haula said when asked what it’s like to miss an elimination game. “I was so nervous.”

Luckily for Haula, the Wild pulled out a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues and earned the right to fight another day.

“I was very relieved after the game,” Haula said. “Just knowing that I’ll be able to play Saturday and be a part of it.”

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Nick Bjugstad’s homecoming with Wild is more business than pleasure Haula is expected to be back in the lineup for Game 5 at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center. Haula took line rushes as the fourth-line center, flanked by Chris Stewart and Ryan White, at Friday’s practice.

“He looks like he’s ready to play,” coach Bruce Boudreau said.

Haula was injured the first time by a hit from Blues winger Scottie Upshall in Game 2. He played in Game 3 before aggravating the injury and being put on the shelf for a few days.

“Yeah, it helped a lot,” Haula said of the rest.” I feel good.”

STASTNY BACK?

While the Wild will get a lift by getting Haula back, all signs point to Blues center Paul Stastny returning for the first time this series.

Stastny centered the team’s first line at Friday’s practice, flanked by Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko, and could be a difference-maker as the Blues try to close the Wild out.

What exactly does Stastny bring to the Blues lineup?

“Other than the fact that he’s a really good player?” Boudreau responded. “He handles the puck. He’s experienced. He’s good on faceoffs. He’s really good on the power play. He can make a play. You take the No. 1 center out of the lineup and then add him in and it allows everything else to be an awful lot stronger.”

Stastny hasn’t played for the Blues since sustaining a lower-body injury on March 21. He had 18 goals and 22 assists in 66 regular season games.

“You know, we’ve faced him enough to know what he brings,” Wild winger Charlie Coyle said. “They are definitely happy to have him back. … It doesn’t really change what we do.”

LOW SCORING

Even though the Wild ranked second in the NHL in goals per game in the regular season, and even though the Blues boast one of the best true scorers in the league, Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said he hasn’t been surprised by the lack of scoring in the first round playoff series between the teams.

Neither team has scored more than two non-empty net goals in any of the four games yet.

“I thought it was going to be a low-scoring series,” Boudreau said. “I thought it was going to be a 2-1 type game. I didn’t think we’d be up to Pittsburgh’s 5-4 type of situation. They defended so well down the stretch, and when we put our mind to it we’re fairly good at it as well.”

The Wild’s defense has been very good on Vladimir Tarasenko, the Blues winger who scored 39 goals during the regular season, fourth-most in the NHL. On top of that, only three Blues forwards have goals in the series.

“Well, that’s saying something, but still, all of a sudden one of them could break out and get four tomorrow,” Boudreau said. “So it’s not sitting there and patting yourself on the back type thing.”