CHICAGO – Like the rest of the hockey world, Wild coach Bruce Boudreau learned Wednesday that defenseman Matt Dumba is going to be out three months as he recovers from surgery to repair a ruptured right pectoral muscle.

Boudreau didn't have much in the way of other details about Dumba's recovery, except to say he wasn't sure what the team means when it said Dumba would be out that long.

"It's three months. I don't know if that means three months before he's working out or three months before he starts playing," Boudreau said before Thursday's game against the Blackhawks. "I'm afraid to ask that question."

If Dumba is able to play again in three months, he would be able to join the Wild shortly before the regular season ends. If not, the Wild might have to make the playoffs in order for Dumba to see this ice before next season.

Boudreau mentioned that Dumba, who is second among NHL defensemen with 12 goals, would begin his rehabilitation soon. As he does, Dumba will be back around the team. Boudreau said he hadn't chatted much with Dumba since the injury, except to let him know, "To get better and get healthy and we can't wait for him to get healthy and get back."

Give me a break

Wild winger Zach Parise said the Christmas break was nice for the Wild to get away and spend some time with their families, but it wasn't as if a break was going to be a remedy for the Wild's problems of late after losing four straight prior to Christmas.

"I think it's overplayed a little bit," Parise said. "At the same time I think we were at a point where we were all getting really frustrated just with the fact that we're not scoring. … It's not as if we come back from break and everything is randomly fixed. There's still things we have to do a lot better."