Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks due to a partial tear of his right hamstring, the team announced Wednesday.
The 28-year-old suffered the injury in the Wild's 5-1 loss to the Avalanche on Tuesday. Early in the third period, Spurgeon was attempting to play a pass from goaltender Devan Dubnyk, but ended up crashing into the boards with his legs splitting apart as he fell to the ice.
Spurgeon was down on the ice for a few minutes before he was helped off and taken to the locker room. He did not return to the game.
“That’s gross,” Dubnyk said after the game (via The Star Tribune). “I hoped he was going to get up right away. He kind of turned around and looked like he was going to get up. He was really flexible, but that was not nice. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that he’s all right or at least minor, but it looked like it hurt.”
It will be hard for Minnesota to replace Spurgeon who has produced nine goals and 37 points in 61 games this season. It's likely the defenseman will miss the remainder of the regular season with the timeline the team announced, which means Jonas Brodin could see a bigger role down the stretch.
