Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom has been ruled out of tomorrow’s game against the Panthers after getting bowled over last night against Toronto, the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports.
Backstrom left Wednesday’s contest following a first-period collision with Nazem Kadri. The Toronto forward was given a goalie interference minor on the play, and had phone hearing this morning with the NHL’s department of player safety regarding his actions.
The injury was a tough blow for Backstrom. The 35-year-old ‘tender has lost his No. 1 gig go to Josh Harding and Wednesday night’s start marked the first time he’d played since surrendering five goals on 28 shots in a loss to Chicago on Oct. 28.
According to the Star-Tribune’s Mike Russo, the Wild will be calling up a goalie -- presumably either Darcy Kuemper or Johan Gustafsson -- from AHL Iowa.