ST. PAUL, Minn. – Xcel Energy Center had a burst of energy Thursday night for an opposition goal.

When Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen tallied in the second period, at least part of the hometown crowd responded with spirited applause. The fans were part of a crew of 300-plus who traveled down from Niskanen's hometown of Virginia, Minn. – about three hours away.

"It's really a nice thing," Niskanen said before the game. "It's just nice to have so many people who are excited to be coming down."

Niskanen, 21, played at the University of Minnesota-Duluth last season and was expected to play this season with the Iowa Stars. However, he made the NHL roster out of training camp and has been one of the Stars' leaders. It was his third goal of the season.

While he said he was a North Stars and Wild fan growing up, he has seen only one Wild game in person. He played at the Xcel Energy Center in college and high school.

"It's been a bit of a roller coaster for myself, but I've been enjoying it," Niskanen said. "It was fun. It's good to come back. I like this building."

Zubov still day to day: Sergei Zubov is expected to test his injured hand in practice today with the intention of playing Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. However, if the hand does not respond, Zubov will sit again, coach Dave Tippett said.

Tippett said the Stars have to learn to adjust to Zubov being out of the lineup.

"We can't get in a situation where our players are scared to make plays, where the young guys are just giving away the puck or the veterans are asked to do too much," Tippett said. "Everyone has a job, and everyone has to react as if it's a normal game."

Skoula scratched: Former Stars defenseman Martin Skoula, who was traded to the Wild in 2005 for Willie Mitchell, was given his first healthy scratch of the season Thursday. Skoula is a team-worst minus-13 and had a key mistake in a 3-2 loss to San Jose on Monday.

"For sure, when a guy makes a mistake and it's in the net and you lose the game, you want to shoot him," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire told the Star Tribune. "I want to shoot him too. But I've got to help him, you know."

Briefly: Chris Conner was a healthy scratch, and Krys Barch returned to the lineup. ... The Stars string of consecutive penalty kills ended at 26 as Minnesota scored on its third power-play opportunity of the game. ... Mike Ribeiro and Antti Miettinen each tallied an assist to stop the top line's two-game scoreless streak. ... Stu Barnes is one game shy of 1,100 for his career.