Tuesday’s game between the Minnesota Wild and Tampa Bay Lightning was only 121 seconds old when Wild defenseman Marco Scandella did the splits and awkwardly fell to the ice at Xcel Energy Center with a right knee injury.
The injury looked bad, but Scandella didn’t blow out his knee, according to the Star Tribune.
Head coach Mike Yeo informed the media on Wednesday that Scandella suffered a sprained knee. The good news is that Minnesota hosts Nashville on Thursday and then the NHL goes on a three-week hiatus while the Winter Olympics take place in Sochi, Russia.
“It’s good news as far as what it looked like,” Yeo said, via the Pioneer Press. “I’d have to think that this would be time wise a good (thing and) we could have him coming back out of the break.”
It’s a 3-4 week injury, so there’s a chance Scandella is ready to play when the Wild is back in action Feb. 27 against the Edmonton Oilers.
WILD WHEEL AND DEAL
Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher was busy on Wednesday, trading center Chad Rau to the San Jose Sharks for right win Curt Gogol. The 26-year-old Rau has seven points in 33 games for the Iowa Wild (AHL) this season. Gogol is just 22-years-old and has a knack for finding himself in the penalty box. According to Wild.com, Gogol ranks seventh in the AHL this season with 149 penalty minutes in 40 games.
Rau is the older brother of Minnesota Golden Gophers co-captain Kyle Rau.
#SJSharks acquire forward Chad Rau from the @mnwild. Rau will report to the @WorcesterSharks. http://t.co/VgslVU3gt6
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) February 5, 2014
