- Eriksson Ek and Brodin will not travel with the Wild for Game 5 in Denver
- Both are still working through lower-body injuries from Round 1 against Dallas
- Read below for Marcus Foligno’s reaction and the latest on each player’s status
The Minnesota Wild are headed to Denver facing elimination, and two of their most important players aren’t coming with them.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin will both stay back in Minnesota for Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round at Ball Arena on Wednesday night. Each is still dealing with a lower-body injury, and neither will be available for what could be the Wild’s final game of the postseason, per NHL.com.
Brodin will miss his sixth straight game. Eriksson Ek will miss his fifth.
Marcus Foligno was asked about the absences before the team boarded its flight Tuesday and didn’t try to dress it up:
“I mean, honestly, we miss (Eriksson Ek) and Brodin. You can see it. Over the course of the series, there’s things that happen and it becomes a chess match a little bit and you get a guy like ‘Ekker’ in there or ‘Brods’ in there it changes a lot of things, right? We’re doing our best to keep lasting here and buying those guys time to come back, but I mean, you’re never going to replace guys like that. They mean so much to our lineup.”
Catch Foligno, Brock Faber, and head coach John Hynes speak before the team headed out:
Brodin hasn’t skated with the team since blocking a shot in Game 5 of Round 1 against Dallas. The veteran defenseman averaged 19:41 of ice time and chipped in an assist over five games before the injury.
Eriksson Ek’s setback came in Game 6 of that same series. He lost an edge late in the third period and slid into the boards with his right leg first. He returned to that game but hasn’t suited up since.
That timing stings even more when you look at the numbers. The Wild’s top-line center put up five points (three goals, two assists) and a plus-7 rating across the six games against the Stars before going down. He did participate in the morning skate before Game 3 against Colorado and has lightly skated since, according to Hynes, but it hasn’t been enough to get him back in the lineup.
Faber talked about how the locker room is handling the absence of two leaders heading into the biggest game of the year:
“They are leaders on this team, they’re veterans on this team, they’re really, really good hockey players, but at the end of the day injuries happen. They have injuries, we have injuries. You can’t dwell on that. You can’t say, ‘What if?’ or go to bed thinking, ‘What if?’ It’s this is the team we’ve got, and we’re confident in this team and what each individual brings.”
Dan Rosen of NHL.com reported the same status before Game 4 on Monday:
The Wild started this series the same way, with Eriksson Ek and Brodin both sidelined for Games 1 and 2 in Denver. They dropped both. Minnesota stole Game 3 at home but ran out of answers in a 5-2 Game 4 loss Monday at Grand Casino Arena.
Puck drop Wednesday is set for 8 p.m. ET on TNT and HBO MAX.
