The Minnesota Wild have another injured defenseman, and general manager Bill Guerin wasn't happy about the sequence leading up to Jake Middleton's exit Friday.
Middleton was shoved head-first into the boards by the New York Islanders' Bo Horvat during the second period of what ultimately was a 3-1 Wild loss in New York. Horvat received a two-minute boarding penalty, but Guerin was incensed it wasn't a major.
According to The Athletic's Michael Russo, Guerin told reporters not to ask Wild coach John Hynes about the penalty, rather to ask the official, Francois St. Laurent, who called the minor penalty. Russo said Guerin yelled the same thing to Hynes, too.
There will be no additional punishment for Horvat, according to Russo.
It's not immediately clear how significant of an injury Middleton suffered, however, he did not return to Friday's game. He's expected to be evaluated sometime on Saturday.
Any potential missed time at this point is a brutal blow for the Wild, who are hanging on to the final wild-card spot in Western Conference for dear life. They have just a five-point lead on the Calgary Flames for the second wild-card spot after Friday's loss.
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