Saturday’s return of defenseman Jonas Brodin for the Wild’s 4-1 win over Buffalo fueled hopes of Minnesota fans that the roster might be returning to some semblance of fuller health as the playoffs — and a brutal three-game stretch — approach.

Those hopes were dashed Monday morning in Texas.

Prior to the Wild’s Monday game at Dallas, coach John Hynes revealed Brodin — for the fifth time this season — would be out of the lineup, due to a lower body injury, although his return could come as soon as Tuesday.

Hynes denied that Brodin aggravated the injury that had caused him to miss the Wild’s past nine games, before playing 20 minutes versus the Sabres, and said it is more a situation where they want to ease the blueliner back into the lineup.

“It wasn’t reaggravation, it’s just day to day,” Hynes said after the team’s morning skate at American Airlines Center. “He has been off for so long, and I think it was an opportunity for him to get into a game and play, and then we’re getting on a plane less than 24 hours later, going into a back-to-back. With (Brodin) I would classify him day to day every day.”

Brodin, 31, has played in 39 games this season, recording four goals and 14 assists.

The game at Dallas on Monday was the 31st this season that he has missed.

Picked by the Wild 10th overall in the 2011 draft, Brodin had a nine-game stint in the AHL in 2012-13, and has been a mainstay on the Wild blue line since then.

Hynes said it is possible that Brodin could return to the lineup for this week’s home games versus Vegas and Washington.

“We’ll see how he feels today, see what it is tomorrow. Maybe he plays tomorrow, maybe he plays Thursday,” Hynes said. “We’re trying to be really cognizant of a player being off for a long time, with the type of injury that he had, making sure we’re putting him in situations where he can come back and play at a high level, but also not throwing him right into a situation where it could get reaggravated or something like that.

“Now it’s just more maintenance of the player and the schedule,” Hynes added, “making sure he’s going to be able to continue to play.”

Gustavsson honored

Wild goalie Gustavsson, 26, was named the league’s first star of the week, after he stopped 82 of the 84 shots he faced in wins over Los Angeles, Seattle and Buffalo. The 4-0 blanking of the Kraken was his 11st career shutout and his fifth of the season.

He has appeared in 48 games for the Wild this season with a 28-15-4 record.