Boldy is tied for third in the NHL with 27 goals. Steph Chambers / Getty Images
BUFFALO, N.Y. — With the Wild having lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time in six weeks and having lost five of their past six games (1-3-2), the besieged team will now open a three-game road trip without leading goal scorer Matt Boldy.
Boldy, who is tied for third in the NHL with 27 goals, was placed on injured reserve Friday with a lower-body injury, the team announced. That means Boldy will have to miss at least the team’s upcoming three-game trip to Buffalo (which has won 15 of 17 games), Toronto and Montreal. Boldy will also be forced to miss the team’s first game back home against the Detroit Red Wings next Thursday.
Boldy logged more than 19 minutes in Thursday’s 6-2 loss to Winnipeg and assisted on Marcus Johansson’s goal with 2:42 left, so it’s unclear when he got injured.
The Wild also placed Joel Eriksson Ek on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. It’s retroactive to last Thursday, so he can come off anytime he’s ready to return. Long considered the Wild’s most irreplaceable player, Eriksson Ek has missed three games and the team is 0-2-1 in his absence.
The news comes one day after the team announced that shutdown defenseman Jonas Brodin is week to week with a lower-body injury, an ailment that could potentially cost him a chance to represent Sweden in the Winter Olympics.
Boldy (United States) and Eriksson Ek (Sweden) should be OK in time for next month’s Winter Games, a team source says.
Defenseman Zach Bogosian also remains on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He has missed five games.
None of the four players on IR traveled to Buffalo on Friday.
With Eriksson Ek and Boldy injured, the Wild recalled forwards Hunter Haight and Nicolas Aube-Kubel and defenseman David Jiricek from AHL Iowa. Defenseman David Spacek remains on the roster and Carson Lambos was reassigned.