Wild short on defensemen with Ballard, Scandella out

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – As Keith Ballard lay on the ice convulsing and athletic therapist Don Fuller turned Ballard on his side to open up his airway, all Kyle Brodziak could think about was his teammate's wife, children and parents.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone on the ice in that condition. It was scary," Brodziak said Wednesday, a day after Ballard, a Baudette, Minn., native and former Gophers two-time national champion, sustained three facial fractures and a concussion that puts his season and maybe his career in jeopardy.

Ballard, 32, is in the final year of his contract with the Wild 17 months after the Vancouver Canucks bought him out. He has had an immense number of injuries in recent seasons, a history of concussions and might need surgery once facial swelling subsides.

Even Chuck Fletcher admitted his concern.

"This is serious," the Wild general manager said. "He's had concussions before. I don't know how many. We're worried about that. Bones will heal. I don't mean to make light of it, but his face will heal. But his hand was sticking right up. He was convulsing. This was scary. You could even see the reaction of the Islanders' bench. They weren't standing over him mocking him. They were scared."

As Ballard recovers at home in the Twin Cities, the Wild lost a second defenseman late Wednesday when Marco Scandella was suspended two games because of an illegal check to Islanders forward Brock Nelson's head. The league showed no mercy because only 10 days earlier, Scandella checked St. Louis' T.J. Oshie — coincidentally, like Nelson, also a former Warroad High and University of North Dakota standout — in the head. Scandella escaped that one with a small fine, but this time, he won't play Thursday against the San Jose Sharks or Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes and loses $11,021 in salary.

It's a big loss.

Defensemen Christian Folin and Justin Falk will replace Ballard and Scandella in the lineup. As Scandella awaited his phone hearing after practice in San Jose on Wednesday, players were still talking about Ballard and the hit he took from Islanders forward Matt Martin.

Martin, the NHL's hits leader who has been suspended twice previously, wasn't disciplined by the NHL. In an attempt to evade the check, Ballard twisted and faced the boards. The league viewed it as contributing to the incident and subsequent injury.

Yeo felt Martin was "seeking [Ballard] out. He's on a mission there."

"I know that Bally was in a bit of a vulnerable position. He may have turned into it a little bit, but at the same time, I see a player launching himself at him at an area close to the boards," Yeo said. "The more I watch it, and again it's hard to watch, when it's your teammate, you don't like those."

Yeo loved his team's response. Besides the obvious fact that the Wild stormed back from a three-goal deficit with four goals in the third period to win, Yeo loved how even the team's pacifists showed anger.

After Ballard was helped off the ice, Mikael Granlund challenged Kyle Okposo the next shift and drew a penalty that led to a power-play goal. Captain Mikko Koivu, who sparked the comeback in the third, was fiery mad, barking at everyone from referees Brad Meier and Brad Watson to several Islanders. Brodziak (eight career fights) showed courage by dropping the gloves with Martin (53 career fights) on Martin's next shift.

"You definitely don't want to be a team that just lets things like that happen," Brodziak said. "We all care for each other and I know if I didn't do something, someone else probably would have. I think that's how you build a camaraderie you need in this league."

Thomas Vanek, who scored the tying goal Tuesday, visited Ballard, his close friend and former Gophers teammate, at the hospital after the game.