Wild's Radivojevic is wobbly, but not wavering

Branko Radivojevic would have you believe there's nothing wrong with him.

Yet, every person who paid any attention to Friday's Wild-Avalanche game knows the gritty Slovak right winger gutted out some sort of injury to his right leg during the Wild's 3-2 overtime victory, which evened the Western Conference quarterfinals at 1-1.

But on Saturday, Radivojevic did his best to abide by team policy, and quite frankly, any hockey player's credo of not discussing injuries -- both the location and severity -- during the playoffs.

"Leg's fine. Feels good," Radivojevic said, laughing, as he drove to the airport to meet his teammates for a flight to Denver for Games 3 and 4 Monday and Tuesday. "It wasn't that bad. No big deal. If it didn't feel good, I wouldn't have come back."

Right.

After colliding with Colorado's Paul Stastny on his third shift four minutes into the game, Radivojevic, 27, didn't return in the first period. He tested his leg during one early 52-second shift in the second period, then went eight minutes without seeing the ice again.

Then Radivojevic started playing regularly, and throughout the rest of the game, any time he hit the ice, it appeared he needed a forklift to hoist him up.

"It's the playoffs, obviously," Radivojevic said. "You shouldn't have to be 100 percent. And I could skate, so it was good enough. Like I said, if I didn't feel I could skate, I wouldn't have come back. It's playoff hockey."

In the postseason, players play hurt. It's hockey's unwritten rule.

There have been numerous examples. In 1987, Edmonton's Kevin Lowe played the entire playoffs with broken ribs. After Dallas won the Stanley Cup in 1999, it was revealed Brett Hull was playing with two groin tears and a torn MCL, and Mike Modano was playing with a broken wrist.

Wild defenseman Martin Skoula played a strong game Friday while playing through an undisclosed leg injury.

"Skoula, oh my," coach Jacques Lemaire said of his performance.

Players get inspired when their teammates play hurt, and that was obvious in the Wild's postgame locker room when teammate after teammate mentioned Radivojevic's guts.

"He's a tough player," left winger Brian Rolston said. "He's been playing tough for us all season. It doesn't surprise me. He has a lot of character. Big heart on him."

Added rookie James Sheppard: "It doesn't matter how much you hurt, you have to push and keep on pushing. To see Branko do that gave our team a lot of energy."

Radivojevic, one of the Wild's top checking forwards and penalty killers, returned to play 17 shifts, logging 11 minutes, 44 seconds.

He clearly aggravated the injury on two occasions. First, there was a scrum around the net after players came in to protect Radivojevic. Radivojevic said Saturday he felt Avs defenseman John-Michael Liles targeted his leg.

"I thought it was dirty," Radivojevic said. "He put his glove in my face, then grabbed my leg and pulled me down from behind."

After the scrum cleared, Radivojevic was on all fours and needed time to pick himself up. Later, in the third period, hard-hitting defenseman Ruslan Salei clobbered Radivojevic in the defensive zone. Again, he struggled slowly to the bench.

"That was a hard hit," Radivojevic said, laughing. "My whole body was hurting, not just that injury."

Said Lemaire: "You've got to give him credit. He's got a lot of will. He wanted to finish the game. It's great to have guys that really want to play and show their teammates."

Just before Saturday's phone call ended, Radivojevic was asked if he planned to play in Game 3.

He laughed.

That would be a yes. After all, it's the playoffs.

Staff writer Chip Scoggins contributed to this report.