St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - The Minnesota Wild announced that defenseman Keith Ballard has been released from a local hospital and will be out indefinitely.
Ballard left Tuesday's 5-4 home loss to the Islanders after absorbing a hard check from New York's Matt Martin with 11:56 to play in the second period. He appeared to be unconscious immediately after contact was made, and was helped off the ice after several minutes of evaluation from team staff.
Ballard was deemed to have suffered multiple facial fractures once taken for further examination at Regions Hospital.
It's a second dose of bad luck for the 32-year-old, who missed time earlier in the season due to the mumps.
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