Wild's Spurgeon out 2-3 weeks after getting hurt on L'Heureux slew-foot - ESPN

WASHINGTON — Minnesota Wild captain Jared Spurgeon was expected to sit out two to three weeks because of an apparent right leg injury after being slew-footed earlier this week by Nashville's Zachary L'Heureux, who was suspended three games for his actions.

General manager Bill Guerin called Spurgeon «week to week» without going into further specifics about the injury other than confirming surgery would not be required.

«It's not as bad as we originally thought,» Guerin said Thursday before his team played at the Washington Capitals. «It's still bad enough because he's not in our lineup.… And, obviously, that's not great for our team.»

Spurgeon's right leg bent awkwardly when he crashed into the boards after having his skates taken out from under him and shoulders pushed backward by L'Heureux early in the second period of the teams' game Tuesday. L'Heureux was ejected with a match penalty and loses $13,490 in salary as part of the suspension after having a disciplinary hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

Guerin said he was «not happy» with the play. Though this is L'Heureux's first suspension in the NHL, he was involved in nine incidents at the junior level and two more in the American Hockey League. That history can't be factored into Player Safety's decision.

«That's not for me to answer that,» Guerin said. «That's a question for the league. The league has their process, and they handled it. We live with that. In the end it doesn't get our player back. That's what makes me lose sleep at night is they get their player back in three games. Ours is out two to three weeks.»

Minnesota has been playing without defenseman Jake Middleton for almost a month since he took a puck off his right hand. Leading scorer