Gophers' Larson to have wrist surgery Tuesday

The Gophers have their first major injury of the season.

Forward Nick Larson will be out indefinitely after being injured in the first period of the Gophers' 6-2 victory over North Dakota on Saturday. A UND player ran into him hard at the blue line as the 5-11, 187-pound senior was trying to carry the puck out of his defensive end.

Larson has a broken wrist. He will have surgery on Tuesday and be out indefinitely.

A video of the play -- it's near the end of the clip -- is here. No penalty was called and it's hard to tell who the UND player was who hit him.

Gophers coach Don Lucia said he will have a better idea how long Larson will be out after his surgery. "Hopefully, [the break] will be an easy one to fix," Lucia said on his Monday radio show.

If it is not a serious break, Lucia said, Larson could perhaps be back in four to six weeks and be able to play with a cast.

Larson has played in 21 of the Gophers' 25 games this season. He always was on the fourth line, usually at right wing although he was the center a few games. He had three goals and one assist for four points, blocked 10 shots and was a plus-3.

He will probably be missed most on the penalty kill. His speed helped him cover a lot of ice quickly.

In 97 games in his four-year career, Larson has 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points.

* The Gophers dressed seventh defensemen for Saturday's game, worried about the availability of Nate Schmidt. He was a game-time decision.Schmidt, who had flu-like symptoms, received fluids through an IV before the game and played.

TWO UND PLAYERS ALSO HURT

North Dakota, which already had a handful of players out with injuries, had two more forwards hurt in the third period on Saturday.

Brendan O'Donnell suffered an upper body injury, and Michael Parks an undisclosed injury. Both are freshmen. Parks was hurt when Gophers defenseman Mark Alt checked him from behind. Alt was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

O'Donnell, a left wing on the third line, had five goals and one assist. Parks, a right wing on the fourth line, scored his fourth goal of the season in the second period Saturday and had two assists.

Hakstol called O'Donnell's injury serious and said Parks' status was day-to-day.