WASHINGTON (AP) — Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon is expected to miss two to three weeks with an apparent right leg injury after getting slew-footed earlier this week by Nashville’s Zachary L’Heureux, who was suspended three games for his actions.
General manager Bill Guerin called Spurgeon “week to week” without going into further specifics about the injury other than confirming surgery will not be required.
“It’s not as bad as we originally thought,” Guerin said Thursday before his team played at the Washington Capitals. “It’s still bad enough because he’s not in our lineup. ... And, obviously, that’s not great for our team.”
Spurgeon's right leg bent awkwardly when he crashed into the boards after having his skates taken out from under him and shoulders pushed backward by L’Heureux early in the second period of the teams' game Tuesday. L’Heureux was ejected with a match penalty and loses $13,490 in salary as part of the suspension after having a disciplinary hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety.
Guerin said he was “not happy” with the play. While this is L’Heureux's first suspension in the NHL, he was involved in nine incidents at the junior level and two more in the American Hockey League. That history cannot be factored into Player Safety's decision.
“That’s not for me to answer that,” Guerin said. “That’s a question for the league. The league has their process, and they handled it. We live with that. In the end it doesn’t get our player back. That’s what makes me lose sleep at night is they get their player back in three games. Ours is out two to three weeks.”
Minnesota has been playing without defenseman Jake Middleton for almost a month since he took a puck off his right hand. Leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov is also day to day with a lower-body injury.
Middleton could return as soon as next week. The Wild have no interest in rushing back Kaprizov, an MVP candidate who ranked fourth in the league with 23 goals and eighth with 50 points going into Thursday's games.
“We don’t want him to come back and push through,” Guerin said. "He could, but it could make something worse. We need him for the long haul. We don’t just need him for a couple games in January. We need him to get healthy and feel better, so we’re trying to do the right thing and just look at it from the long point of view.”
Spurgeon is facing another extended absence a year after season-ending hip and back surgeries. Those injuries limited him to 16 games last season.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s something obviously you think would be preventable, but it is the game, so you get hurt,” coach John Hynes said. “Spurgy’s a mentally tough guy. He’ll make sure that he’s ready to get back as soon as he can.”
Spurgeon, 35, was playing well before getting injured this time, putting up four goals and nine assists for 13 points while skating nearly 21 minutes a game.
“It’s brutal,” teammate and fellow defenseman Brock Faber said. “He’s going to come back from it stronger than ever. That’s how he is. That’s what he does. There’s no doubt in our minds that he’s going to get through this thing.”
Hynes and the coaching staff cautioned that they don't want Faber, Jonas Brodin and others on the blue line to overcompensate and take on too much while Spurgeon is unavailable.
“Those guys just have to continue to do what they do," Hynes said. "Spurgy’s not with us, but no one’s going to replace him, so everyone has to play their role. Brodin and Faber don’t have to do anything different because Spurgeon’s out. They still play huge minutes. They still play important situations. They’ve just got to do their job.”
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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
