Dennis Wideman injured, will not return to the game

What a season it’s been for Dennis Wideman, eh?

That second goal was weird in general, courtesy of a flubbed-shot-turned-perfect-pass by Mikael Backlund, but the weirdest part of the entire play was Wideman being forced to the outside, and subsequently, backing up into Joe Colborne and falling into the boards.

While the rest of his teammates celebrated, Wideman gingerly left the ice, went down the tunnel, and was not seen again.

Wideman has been healthy throughout this season, but contact with official Don Henderson saw him miss 19 games in a 10-game suspension, so he’s had a lot of time to sit.

After playing just 4:31 against the Winnipeg Jets – including 42 seconds on the penalty kill, and being on the ice for the Flames’ first two goals – Wideman saw his night end extremely prematurely just as Colborne was picking up his second point of the night.

We don’t know how serious this injury is, but if Wideman needs to miss time, the Flames have a few options – ones they’ve already explored thanks to the near-quarter of a season he’s previously been absent for.

T.J. Brodie has missed the Flames’ past three games, including this one, with an undisclosed injury suffered against the Nashville Predators when Filip Forsberg crosschecked him. It’s unknown if he’ll be ready to go for Friday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, but if he is, then there’s your easy solution: Wideman out, Brodie in.

If, however, Brodie is not ready to go, then it’s pretty likely the Flames recall Tyler Wotherspoon. Wotherspoon has already played three games in an emergency role following the post-trade deadline, and seems to be the default option when down a defenceman. This is for good reason: Wotherspoon is the oldest of the Flames’ blueliner prospects, and is the only one whose contract will be up after this season. He’ll be an RFA, so he’ll still be under team control, but the Flames might as well see what they’ve got with him while the clock is ticking on him faster than it is anybody else.