MN Wild Mum on Brodin Injury; NHL “Disciplines” Jamie Benn

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Jamie Benn, Jonas Brodin: Stanley Cup Playoffs - Minnesota Wild vs Dallas Stars
Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Wild went up 3-2 on the Dallas Stars Tuesday night, with a convincing 4-2 victory down in Texas. Now, they can ice the series back in St. Paul on Thursday, if they can get a win back in St. Paul.

Should they find a way to get it done, the MN Wild would advance beyond the first round the the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2014-15.

The good news: Mats Zuccarello returned in Game 5. He recorded a goal and an assist. Uncoincidentally, the “Thrill” in Kirill Kaprizov’s game (1 goal, 2 assists) was back too. No doubt, having Yakov Trenin (7 hits, 1 assist) back in the lineup was a boost for Minnesota, as well.

Tomorrow night, both Zuccarello and Trenin should be back on the ice, once again. In theory, they should be even better than they were Tuesday. Despite their impressive performances in Game 5, nobody is skating at 100% while trying to shake off cobwebs/rust off, after a multi-game hiatus recovering from head injuries.

Minnesota Wild give little update on Jonas Brodin injury

Unfortunately, the Game 6 outlook for Jonas Brodin — who left Game 5 and did not return after taking a shot off the shin — doesn’t seem as optimistic.

While Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes didn’t give much away, in terms of Brodin’s status for Thursday, the 32-year-old wasn’t able to return yesterday, then didn’t practice today. I can’t imagine he’s active for Game 6, though I hope I am wrong.

If Jonas Brodin can’t go, Hynes told reporters today, the MN Wild will turn to one of two lineup combinations, in his absence — either Daemon Hunt + Zach Bogosian OR Bogosian + Jeff Petry.

Jamie Benn “disciplined” by NHL for cross-check on Hartman

In other news, Dallas Stars conman/left winger, Jamie Benn, received a nice email today from the league offices for his cross-check to the face of Ryan Hartman in Game 5.

Just in case you missed it, Benn went after Hartman because the Wild forward lifted Benn’s stick into his own facemask-less face, drawing blood. The refs saw the blood on Benn’s face, but didn’t catch how it happened.

So instead of penalizing the 36-year-old veteran retaliate for his unnecessary cross-check to an opponent’s face, they hit he and Hartman with two-minute penalties.

Thankfully, we have the league to go back and issue proper discipline in moments like this, right? Wrong. Benn’s only discipline for Wednesday’s insane cross-check on Ryan Harman came in the form of a small fine of $2,604.17.

Apparently, that is the maximum allowable under NHL rules (shrug emoji).

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