LOS ANGELES -- The Wild have lost winger Guillaume Latendresse for an indefinite period after he suffered a concussion during his team's 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher said Friday that forward Warren Peters, a healthy scratch against the Sharks, will replace Latendresse in the lineup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center.
No other moves are planned, Fletcher said.
"We have 20 healthy players," he said, adding that defenseman Clayton Stoner, recovering from a finger injury, is also close to returning.
Latendresse, who missed all but 11 games last season because of abdominal injuries and assorted surgeries, has four goals and four assists for eight points in 14 games this season.
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His loss is a blow to the offense of a team that ranks 29th in the NHL in goals per game with 2.13. Latendresse had scored goals in each of the three previous games before he was hurt in San Jose.
"We definitely have to find a way to score some more goals, but I still believe we have the guys in the lineup that can score a lot of goals," coach Mike Yeo said.
Yeo indicated he likely will move Nick Johnson or Cal Clutterbuck into Latendresse's spot on the line with Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley. Heatley leads Minnesota in scoring with five goals and five assists for 10 points, while four other players not including Latendresse have eight points or more.
Fletcher said Latendresse traveled with the team
to Los Angeles. Latendresse has not been placed on injured reserve, but the team can place him on IR retroactive to today, if necessary. Latendresse would be required to miss at least a week if he goes on IR, but he is expected to miss that much time either way.
"We'll see how he feels on a day-to-day basis," Fletcher said. "There's no timetable with this type of injury; we all hope for the best."
Latendresse missed one game earlier this season with a groin injury.
Harding to start: Yeo said he plans to use Josh Harding in goal tonight but has not determined whether Harding or Nik Backstrom will play Sunday night when the Wild play the Ducks in Anaheim in the second of back-to-back games.
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Harding recently won four consecutive games, allowing just three goals in those games.
Briefly: The Wild stayed overnight in San Jose on Thursday and practiced there Friday before traveling to Los Angeles. In addition to Latendresse, defenseman Mike Lundin missed practice. Lundin is still on IR with a back injury.
Distributed by MCT Information Services
