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Niklas Backstrom’s window of recovery: 2-4 weeks

Josh Harding, Niklas Backstrom

Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding, left, comes onto the ice to replace goalie Niklas Backstrom, of Finland, right, after Backstrom gave up three goals during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

AP

Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom tweaked his groin making a save early in last night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. It was already clear that it wouldn’t be an easy situation, but NHL.com’s Brian Hedger tracked down a more specific estimate. The Wild revealed that the issue will likely sideline him for two to four weeks.

Backstrom’s loss looks to be backup Josh Harding’s gain. A two week window could give him 6-7 starts while a month-long reading could provide as many as 15 opportunities.

Naturally, that would assume that Harding would play each game, which is far from a guarantee. That being said, head coach Mike Yeo points out that there aren’t many back-to-back games* so new backup Matt Hackett might not see much time.

The Wild currently sit at 12th place in the West, trailing the eighth-ranked Dallas Stars by five points (71 to 66). It certainly doesn’t look like a promising situation for Minnesota, although Harding could profoundly improve his value on the free agent market if he can help them turn things around.

* - The Wild have to back-to-back sets, to be exact:


  • March 24 and 25 (at Buffalo, at Washington)
  • March 31 and April 1 (vs. Los Angeles, at Chicago)