St. Paul, MN — Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu will miss
the rest of the season after tearing a ligament and cartilage in
his right knee.
Koivu tore his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, and is
expected to have surgery Friday, the Wild announced Wednesday. He
was hurt a day earlier while colliding with Sabres forward Tage
Thompson in the first period of Minnesota’s 5-4 shootout loss at
Buffalo.
Wild captain Mikko Koivu will miss the remainder of the season.
Koivu has spent his 14 NHL seasons with Minnesota, and is the
franchise leader in numerous categories.
The 35-year-old Finn had eight goals and 21 assists in 48 games
this season. He also leads the team with 488 faceoff wins and is
tied for second with 12 power-play points.
The injury comes with the Wild going 0-1-2 in their past three
games and preparing to host Edmonton on Thursday night. Minnesota
is seventh in the Western Conference with a 26-22-5 record and 57
points, three ahead of eighth-place Vancouver.
To make up for the roster space the Wild made a call to Des Moines
and called up Joel Eriksson Ek from the AHL’s Iowa Wild.