by Fierce defender Jared Spurgeon John Shipley of the Pioneer Press reports that he returned to practice Friday for the first time since being sidelined after two games due to a lower-body injury related to his surgeries last season. He’s unlikely to play today, but the team hopes the captain can return Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Spurgeon has been a key cog in Minnesota’s backline for much of the last 15 years and will give them a boost if he can return.
Meanwhile, Michael Russo of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Wild have sent forward Ryan Hartman back to Minnesota, meaning he will miss the final two games of the road trip. The 30-year-old suffered an upper body injury a week and a half ago and although he was listed as “day-to-day” at this stage, his recovery appears to be taking a little longer than expected. He has scored two goals in four games so far this season.
Elsewhere in the West:
- While the Blackhawks hoped Laurent Brossoit I wouldn’t miss much time at the start of the season, that won’t be the case. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports (Twitter link) that the goaltender won’t start skating until next week and will need a few more weeks from then on to be ready to play. Brossoit suffered a knee injury during off-season workouts in late August, delaying an expected legitimate shot at Chicago’s No. 1 job after posting a 2.00 GAA and .927 SV% in 23 games with Winnipeg last season had.
- Golden Knights defender Nick Hague left yesterday’s game with a lower-body injury, but it doesn’t look like the injury was particularly serious. Speaking to reporters after the game, including Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, head coach Bruce Cassidy couldn’t rule out the blueliner for tonight’s game against San Jose. Hague has scored one goal in eight games so far this season, including last night against Ottawa.
