The Minnesota Wild saw their frustrating injury record grow when goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and center Connor Dewar left their 6-4 victory over the Florida Panthers hurt.
Fleury left the game in the second frame as Florida pulled his counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky after colliding with Cats’ forward William Lockwood in the first; the latter would later receive a beatdown from noted slugger Brandon Duhaime for his troubles.
Dewar also exited the contest during the second period after tying up with Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling. Two-goal scorer Ryan Hartman replaced his penalty kill minutes throughout the rest of the night.
Injuries to Fleury and defensive center Dewar are a twist to the knife for a Wild outfit already devastated by absences.
Captain Jared Spurgeon’s season ended yesterday after only 16 games, and two-way forward Freddy Gaudreau was injured later that evening in Tampa. With Spurgeon done for the year, the Wild must reconsider their position as an organization even after their resounding win in South Florida.
Minnesota fired coach Dean Evason after a disappointing start to the season, and though new bench boss John Hynes found some initial success, the Wild are far adrift of a playoff spot in a top-heavy Central Division.
Contending teams will undoubtedly call on “playoff-style” players like Duhaime, Jake Middleton, and even Fleury. Can GM Bill Guerin and the 19-21-5 Wild afford to ignore them?
The Wild will spend their day off evaluating Fleury and Dewar’s respective statuses ahead of their Sunday tilt against the surging Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.
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