Mike Russo of the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports another potentially crucial loss for the Wild, suggesting that captain and leading scorer Mikko Koivu was injured in overtime of a 4-3 shootout loss to Chicago last night.
Russo believes the injury occurred during Koivu’s final shift of the extra frame, which is why he wasn’t involved in the shootout (strange, as Koivu’s 25 shootout goals are seventh-most in NHL history.)
Russo also added it’s been confirmed that Koivu was hurt -- early speculation suggests a leg injury -- and that he’ll see doctors today.
So, worst case scenario for the Wild? Koivu misses time, meaning they’d be without four of their top-six forwards. Devin Setoguchi (knee), Guillaume Lantendresse (concussion), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (broken nose/face) are already out -- all told, Minnesota has lost 117 man games to injury.
And yet they’re still the best team in the NHL.
I have officially stopped trying to make sense of this. Last night, Minnesota took Chicago the distance -- losing in a shootout -- with a lineup featuring Cody Almond, Brad Staubitz, Clayton Stoner, Warren Peters and Mike Lundin. Jared Spurgeon, who two years ago was an unsigned free agent out of Spokane, played a game-high 27:30.
And for you amateur capologists out there, consider this: Last night’s lineup featured 12 guys making less than $1.5-million annually.
/throws hands up, walks out