When it comes to Dumba, all Wild can do is wait

ST. PAUL -- On a night where the Wild was already shorthanded because of a three-game suspension levied against Kevin Fiala, Minnesota is simply hoping it won't receive more in the coming days regarding defenseman Matt Dumba, albeit for a much different reason.
The Minnesota blueliner, who earlier in the night on Saturday, scored his third goal of the young season, tumbled awkwardly to the ice late in the game, tangled with teammate Jordan Greenway.
Coach Dean Evason didn't have an update after the game, but it sure didn't look pretty.

It's the kind of bad break both Dumba and the Wild simply can't afford following a disheartening 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center.
The game marked the first of four-straight against its long-time rival and first of back-to-back weekend tilts on home ice, before the series shifts west to Denver on Tuesday and Thursday.
Without Fiala until Thursday, Minnesota is at the mercy of Dumba's flexibility and maybe the injury Gods. If Dumba is able to play on Sunday, it would certainly seem to be a stroke of good fortune.

"We will have to wait and see," Evason said.
Dumba, the reigning King Clancy Award winner, is in the midst of a nice early start to the season. He scored his third goal of the year in the first period on Saturday, putting him halfway to his season total of six in 69 games last season, one that saw him struggle to find a groove in his first campaign back following triceps surgery in December of 2018.
That year, Dumba was on pace to challenge the 30-goal plateau as a defenseman, a rare feat. Last season, he never really felt comfortable, but has said on numerous occasions this year that he's felt more like himself.
Dumba has looked like it too, as evidenced by his goal which briefly pulled the Wild even just shy of the seven-minute mark of the game. Playing down near the goal line, Dumba had a tiny corner of the net to shoot at, and from a tough angle, banked a snap shot off the mask of Philipp Grubauer and in.
That was the high point of the night for Minnesota, which had been on its heels for much of the first six minutes of the game, and remained that way for the final 54 minutes.
Already playing with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, the Wild also missed Marcus Johansson in the third period because of an undisclosed injury. Evason did not have an update on him after the game either.
All of which means the Wild could conceivably be without two top-6 forwards and a top-4 defenseman Sunday night when these same clubs skate in this same arena.
"That obviously hurt us having Johansson] go out of the game, but we still more than anything [seven] penalties probably hurt us as much as anything," Evason said. "We had to expend a lot of energy in that area and weren't able to do obviously what we've done a lot of here at the start of the season.
"We threw some thoughts around tonight [regarding a potential lineup for Sunday] and we will continue to do that in the morning. We'll have to wait and see who's available to us to make that decision."
One thing is for certain, if the Wild is without Dumba for any significant amount of time, it will be a sizable hole for Minnesota to fill on its blueline.
While the Wild has some depth among its defensive core, Dumba's knack for offense would be tough to replace. With the power play currently tied for 30th in the NHL, Dumba likely would have been -- and may still be -- a part of a resurgence there.
But all the Wild can do now is wait, and hope.
"He's a big part of our team," Greenway said. "He has a big impact out there so it's always tough losing a guy like that."
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