Jake Middleton latest Wild regular sidelined by injury
Jake Middleton avoided a serious injury when he was pushed head-first into the boards on Friday in Elmont N Y but was unavailable for Sunday s matinee against Dallas at Xcel Resource Center Officially Middleton is out with an upper body injury after a push from Islanders alternate captain Bo Horvat in the second period of the Wild s - loss Middleton was racing to retrieve a puck in the corner when Horvat gave him a shove with his left hand simultaneously tripping him with his stick Middleton went face-first into the boards and collapsed in a heap and Horvat was this instant contrite and later banged his stick on the ice while standing in the penalty box as Middleton left the ice I would say day to day Hynes stated Middleton wasn t the only regular unavailable Sunday Forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek remain out with lower body injuries Although both skated with the squad before a March domination over the Capitals neither has played a competition in weeks and it s unclear whether either will return before the regular season ends April against Anaheim Kaprizov tied for second on the squad with goals and third in points with hasn t played in a competition since Jan and Eriksson Ek s last games were in the Four Nations Cup in February He s on injured reserve You know why I don t like to give timelines because it changes every day Hynes mentioned when requested about the forwards on Sunday I truly do not have one I can t give you one Before Sunday s tournament the Wild held the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference by four points over Calgary where the Wild will play on Tuesday night After Sunday Minnesota has four regular-season games left Briefly Defenseman Cameron Crotty recalled from AHL Iowa on Saturday was a healthy scratch Related Articles Wild GM Bill Guerin It s up to the guys in that locker room Wild return to NHL duty still missing their best participant Wild about to receive a salary cap windfall of roughly million Wild shutting Kirill Kaprizov down again Wild move clears way for returns of Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon
