Wild cruise past Ducks, but lose Jonas Brodin on brutal hit
The Minnesota Wild cruised to a 4-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif., but the victory was overshadowed by a lower-body injury sustained by defenseman Jonas Brodin.
Brodin was slammed into the boards by Ducks center Alex Killorn during the third period of Tuesday's game and appeared to twist and fall on his leg as he crashed to the ice. The Wild quickly ruled him out for the remainder of the game.
Garbage hit by Alex Killorn on Jonas Brodin #mnwild pic.twitter.com/bKFBUQdkAx
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) March 20, 2024
The injury spoiled an otherwise dominant game from the Wild. After a scoreless first period, Ryan Hartman and Jon Merrill each scored goals within the first two minutes of the second frame, and Kirill Kaprizov added another second-period tally on the power play at 11:50 to give Minnesota a 3-0 advantage heading into the third.
Jacob Lucchini added an insurance goal in the third period 13 minutes, 3 seconds in.
Goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves in the shutout victory.
But now all attention will turn towards Brodin and the severity of his injury. Brodin previously missed a stretch from Dec. 8 to Jan. 16 due to an upper-body injury. The Wild will certainly hope Brodin's injury doesn't result in another stint on the long-term injured reserve.
Minnesota is up to 76 points, just three behind Vegas for the last wild card spot in the Western Conference playoff race.
