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Danger: A night of injuries in the NHL

Minnesota Wild v Anaheim Ducks

ANAHEIM, CA - DECEMBER 04: Josh Harding #37 of the Minnesota Wild celebrates an empty net goal by Cal Clutterbuck #22 to seal a 5-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks during the third period at Honda Center on December 4, 2011 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

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There are some nights where everything goes smoothly and we can simply focus on the on-ice results around the league. Tonight was not one of those nights. Important players were dropping like flies all around the league tonight. Forget wins and losses, it was all about getting through the night without losing guys on the roster.

Kristian Huselius injured… again

The good news for the Blue Jackets was that they were able to beat Montreal in a shootout. The bad news is that they lost Kristian Huselius almost as quickly as they got him back in the lineup.

Huselius was just activated from injured reserve list on Friday as he was recovering from a torn pectoral muscle. It only took four days for the oft-injured forward to get injured again. The worst part is that the injury is apparently unrelated to the previous injury sidelined Huselius for the first two months of the season.

If it wasn’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all.

Friendly fire: Josh Harding takes headshot from teammate

Josh Harding made it through just over a minute of the game in San Jose before he was forced to exit stage right. Still, it was an eventful 1:11 for the netminder. First, Harding gave up a beautiful goal to Joe Pavelski exactly a minute into the game. Then, only seconds later, he took a shot from his own teammate that would knock him out of the game. Not exactly the best way for defenseman Nick Shultz to show his love for his goaltender.

The silver lining for the Minnesota Wild is that just about every goaltender that gets a chance looks like an all-star this season. Matt Hackett looked very good in his first NHL action in replacing Harding. It looks like he may have learned a thing or two from his uncle, former NHL netminder Jeff Hackett.

David Booth catches knee from Avs’ Kevin Porter

Any way you cut it, it was an ugly, dangerous play that ruined David Booth’s night. As Booth was cutting across the middle of the offensive zone, Avalanche defenseman Kevin Porter stuck his knee out and clipped the attacking Booth. Booth was in visible pain before he even hit the ice and had to be helped off the ice. Porter was given a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct for his actions.

The next time we hear Kevin Porter’s name, there’s a good chance the words “suspension” and “Brendan Shanahan” will be attached.

For the Canucks, it was announced early that Booth was being evaluated and would not return to tonight’s game. We can hope for the best—but it didn’t look good when he was helped to the locker room.

Perry, Luongo miss time

Aside from the guys that were forced to the locker room for the rest of the night, both Corey Perry and Roberto Luongo dodged bullets in their respective games. Luongo took a puck up near the throat and was forced to leave the game prematurely. He was able to stay on the bench in a back-up role and initial reports are that it’s not a serious injury.

In Anaheim, Corey Perry took a cross-check in the lower back from former teammate Dustin Penner midway through the second period. Perry was helped to the locker room, but was able to return to the ice for the third period.

If you think things are dark in Anaheim, just imagine how bleak things would be if their defending-Hart Trophy winner went down with an injury.

Update (1:25 am EST): Devin Setoguchi was seen limping badly after Minnesota’s win in San Jose; head coach Mike Yeo said he probably won’t play against Los Angeles on Thursday.