"It's not what you want to see. I don't have to tell you how much he means to us," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, just feet away from Suter when he hit the ice. "We all care about each other in here, so you never want to see anyone go off hurt. But when it's one of your top defenseman, if not your top defenseman, then it's going to hurt a little bit more."
Coach Bruce Boudreau had no update on Suter after the game, saying only that he would likely know more by Monday, the next time the Wild will be on the ice.
"Sutes doesn't get hurt very often so anytime he goes off like that you worry about it," Boudreau said. "Hopefully, it's not as bad as it looked when he was coming off."
With Minnesota in the mix for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which begin in less than two weeks, the hope is that Suter's injury is not long-term.
Still, it's another remarkable turn for the Wild, who have had to weather an almost ridiculous number of injury storms this season.
First it was Zach Parise missing half the season following back surgery in training camp. Then it was Mikael Granlund getting hurt in the season opener. Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter were hurt on consecutive shifts in game No. 3.
Jared Spurgeon missed nine games before Christmas and will likely miss the remainder of the regular season, at least, with a lower-body injury.
That's not a list of run-of-the-mill guys; that's a body blow to the heart of the Wild's roster.
"It'd be interesting to see how many games we've actually played with the lineup you pencil in at the beginning of the year," Parise said. "We haven't had that too often and unfortunately, that's what we've dealt with. If Ryan is going to be out a little while, we're all going to have to elevate our game a little more."
A loss by the St. Louis Blues in Arizona on Saturday helped the Wild's playoff chances. Minnesota needs any combination of two victories or two regulation losses by the Blues or Colorado Avalanche to secure a postseason bid for a sixth consecutive season. One of each would also do the trick.
But none of those teams will feel sorry for Minnesota.
Colorado announced earlier in the day on Saturday that goaltender Semyon Varlamov will miss the remainder of the season after he was injured Friday against Chicago. Top defenseman Erik Johnson will also be out for more than a month.
St. Louis has had injury problems all season with some of its top players.
"Next guy up," Boudreau said. "If you're not good enough to overcome it, you shouldn't be in the playoffs in the first place."
Already without Spurgeon and Gustav Olofsson and potentially without Suter, the Wild will need to not only adopt that mantra, but embrace it.
"I think everyone knows what Ryan means to the team, but I think what everyone doesn't know is that we've got a group of young defensemen in here that are willing to step up and are going to," said Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. "We have to. It's moments like these that you need elevation in everyone's game."
Related:
- Postgame Hat Trick: Stars 4, Wild 1
- Watch: Parise scores power-play goal to get Wild on the board
