The Wild is already missing one of its best goal scorers, and the team could also be down a top defenseman.
Wild's Matt Dumba injured in lopsided loss to Avalanche
January 31, 2021 at 5:34AM
Matt Dumba didn't finish Saturday's 5-1 thrashing by the Avalanche, exiting in the third period after taking a tumble to the ice. Dumba got his left skate tied up with teammate Jordan Greenway's right skate, and Dumba's right leg bent underneath him as he fell.
"Honestly, I didn't see what happened," Greenway said. "Big part of our team. He's has a big impact out there. It's always tough losing a guy like that."
After the game, coach Dean Evason said Dumba was still getting evaluated and he didn't know the severity of the situation.
If Dumba – who scored the Wild's lone goal in the first period – is unable to play Sunday when these two teams meet again, the Wild has an extra defenseman in Brad Hunt already on its roster.
Hunt actually suited up Saturday, taking Kevin Fiala's place in the lineup as Fiala began to serve a three-game suspension for boarding. But Hunt played sparingly, taking only five shifts and skating 3 minutes, 45 seconds total.
Dumba wasn't the only player to leave the game early.
Winger Marcus Johansson missed the second half, and Evason said he didn't have an update on Johansson's status.
With Johansson gone, the Wild finished the game with 10 forwards. Asked if that might make the team reconsider dressing 12 forwards, Evason said the team will continue the discussion in the morning.
"We'll have to wait and see who's available to us to make that decision," he said.
Aside from being short personnel-wise, the Wild was also frequently down a player on the ice because of all the penalties the team took.
Colorado went on the power play seven times, scoring twice. One of those goals capped off the scoring in the third period, but the other was the game-winner late in the first period.
"We watched video of their power play this morning, and that group has been together for a while," winger Zach Parise said. "They just know where each other are. They know their outs, they've got a plan and they make you pay. And when you're trying to mount a comeback and you're in the box seven times, that makes it a little tougher."
Those power play goals didn't come from the Avalanche's top line, but Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog were still a handful for the Wild.
The trio combined on Colorado's third goal, a pretty finish by Rantanen after he hauled the puck across the middle of the Wild's zone. Rantanen and MacKinnon also earned assists on the Avalanche's fourth goal in the third period.
"We can't give them as many opportunities as we did," said Greenway, whose line with center Nico Sturm and winger Marcus Foligno was tasked with tracking Colorado's No.1 unit. "They had a lot of chances. They had too many odd-man rushes. I don't know how many penalties we took, but they've got a good power play. We've got to find ways to stay out of the box. You give them [seven] power plays, they're bound to score a couple. We've got to do a better job of neutralizing them, for sure."
Problems that might have led to a loss in the past are merely complications that the team is overcoming this season, as was true again Friday against Tampa Bay.
