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ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 There was some relatively good news for the Minnesota Wild on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
Joel Eriksson Ek, who has missed the first two games of the Wild\u2019s second-round series against the Avalanche with a lower-body injury, skated on his own with skills and skating coach Andy Ness before the team\u2019s practice, then was a limited participant in practice once the rest of his teammates joined.<\/p>\n
Eriksson Ek did not take part in line rushes or special teams work. He typically centers Marcus Johansson and Matt Boldy, is the Wild\u2019s net-front guy on the No. 1 power play and is first over the boards on the penalty kill. He\u2019s certainly been missed in those roles as the Wild have fallen behind 0-2 in the series.<\/p>\n
Eriksson Ek watched the last half hour of practice from the bench, but coach John Hynes said that was the plan. Eriksson Ek had not skated in the eight days since getting hurt in Game 6 of the Dallas Stars series. Hynes said there is a potential of Eriksson Ek playing in Game 3 on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he looked good out there,\u201d Hynes said. \u201cSo that was certainly encouraging. And we had the plan for him to go out and skate before practice, and then do some stuff in the practice. So we\u2019ll see where it goes from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he definitely going to play? I don\u2019t know that. Is he a potential? There\u2019s a potential, there\u2019s a chance he can play. I won\u2019t know probably until gametime (Saturday).\u201d<\/p>\n
Hynes said it will largely be up to Eriksson Ek.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s trusting the medical staff, but yes, it ultimately comes down to the player,\u201d Hynes said. \u201cAnd these guys know. They think that they can really help the team and they\u2019re going to be able to play and contribute the way that they need to contribute. It might not be every player is at 100 percent, but if they feel like they can really impact and play the role that they\u2019re supposed to play, then those guys, a lot of times, they\u2019ll say, \u2018Hey, I can do it.\u2019 But other times they\u2019ll say, \u2018I\u2019m close, but I\u2019ve got to think of the team first, and right now I can\u2019t perform the way you guys are going to expect me to perform.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2023, Eriksson Ek broke his lower leg late in the regular season. It was a two-month injury, but after skating for a week, he tried to return against the Stars and lasted 19 seconds. Hynes wasn\u2019t the coach then. But asked if he needs to keep center Danila Yurov in the lineup if Eriksson Ek does play \u2014 as an insurance policy if Eriksson Ek can\u2019t get through the game \u2014 Hynes said, \u201cI haven\u2019t thought about that yet, only because today, when I came in this morning, it was, he was going to skate. As of yesterday, he hadn\u2019t skated. These things are so fluid that it\u2019s not really like you\u2019re holding information back. I just don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t even know what he\u2019s going to say after the skate, whether he said it felt good or bad or whatever.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you always want to try to make sure that if a player is coming off an injury \u2026 you want to make sure, can you make it through the game? Now, if it\u2019s an unfortunate thing that happens, you do want to try to make sure that you\u2019re covered. But those are the discussions you do have with players \u2014 and the medical staff has with the players \u2014 when they come back, to say, \u2018Are we testing this or are you telling us you are a game player for the game?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In other news, defenseman Zach Bogosian took part in Friday\u2019s practice and is a possibility to play Saturday after missing Game 2 with a lower-body injury. Right wing Mats Zuccarello missed practice because he was sick. Hynes said he expects Zuccarello to play Saturday. Defenseman Jonas Brodin (lower body) is not a possibility for Saturday, Hynes said.<\/p>\n
Hynes said he knew who Saturday\u2019s starting goalie would be between Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson but had not yet told the player.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n