ST. PAUL, MINN. — Before Game 2 on Friday night, Kurtis Foster and Nick Schultz assumed their positions in the Wild’s blue line infirmary, a press box suite high above the ice at Xcel Energy Center.
No hiding the defensemen’s disappointment being close to their teammates in the Stanley Cup playoffs but far away as any spectators while Minnesota battled Colorado.
Three weeks after breaking his left leg, Foster is resigned to a long rehabilitation to save his career.
Schultz, who had an emergency appendectomy Monday, is out for the first round but working toward rejoining the Wild if they advance.
“In my mind, I’d love to ready for Round 2. That would be ideal,” he said. “It’s a day-to-day thing. It’s feeling better every day, but it’s just a healing process. I’ve got to let that heal and make sure I don’t do something else coming back.”
He rode a stationary bike and jogged on an underwater treadmill earlier Friday. Moments before faceoff, Schultz, who has missed only one game because of injury in six seasons, wandered around the press box looking for Foster and a spot to watch the game.
“This is different,” he said.
The timing is acutely painful because Schultz emerged this season as the Wild’s premier shutdown defender, a premium role in the postseason.
His keen positional play and physicality in front of the net are desperately needed by a beleaguered and overworked defense corps.
Schultz said he woke up Saturday morning with pain in his abdomen but practiced before the Wild departed for Denver. His condition worsened before Sunday’s season finale against the Avs, so he spent the day in his hotel room.
On Monday, after taking the team photo, Schultz saw the team doctor and was hospitalized.
Meanwhile, Foster returned to Xcel for a game for the first time since he was injured March 19 in San Jose.
He gave the ceremonial “Let’s Play Hockey” chant before rejoining his fiancée, Steph, in a corner suite. Dressed in a black warm-up suit and sneakers, he angled his wheelchair and propped his left leg parallel with the ice.
Better than watching Game 1 on television at Schultz’s house Wednesday, but …
“It’s so hard when the two of us want to be out there so bad,” Foster said.
