When Joel Eriksson Ek went down with an injury in the Minnesota Wild’s January 8 game against the Seattle Kraken, it was cause for significant concern. The Wild already need center depth, and that issue becomes even worse without Eriksson Ek on the ice.
To add to the distress, Eriksson Ek has had several injuries over the last few seasons. It’s always natural to wonder if a player with his injury history can come back and play at full strength immediately. Fortunately for Eriksson Ek and the Wild, he’s come back in excellent form.
Minnesota has played two games since Eriksson Ek’s return on January 22. They’ve captured three out of four points in the standings against impressive competition. They beat the Eastern conference-leading Detroit Red Wings in overtime before dropping a 4-3 overtime contest to the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.
The Panthers aren’t playing as well as they did last season, but they’re a battle-tested team fighting for their playoff lives. Florida and Detroit are the kind of teams the Wild will need to beat when games start really mattering at the end of the season.
To succeed in the postseason, they’re going to need Joel Eriksson Ek to play the way he has since returning from injury.
Eriksson Ek’s play has been a mix of strong offensive production, his usual defensive responsibility, and the kind of tenacity that pays dividends in multi-game series. Let’s take a look at both of Eriksson Ek’s games for a deeper dive into how his play has had a massive impact on the Wild.
At first glance, Eriksson Ek’s game against the Red Wings seems unremarkable. He didn’t find the stat sheet and only won 3 of 17 faceoffs. However, dig a bit deeper, and you can see how he drove winning.
The first aspect of Eriksson Ek’s game that stands out is his ability to produce chances on net. Eriksson Ek was second on the team in shots on goal with five. Of those shots, Eriksson Ek manufactured a high-danger scoring chance and two medium-danger shot attempts. That volume of offense gave Eriksson Ek the most expected goals for any Minnesota player in the game.
(Source: Moneypuck)
Eriksson Ek also had a solid game in terms of puck possession, registering a 54.4% corsi-for percentage.
While Eriksson Ek was a solid contributor offensively, he’s always been known as a player who can impact games without the puck on his stick, which was definitely true in the matchup against the Red Wings.
Eriksson Ek registered three hits, with the most notable coming on a punishing check on Red Wings star Patrick Kane.
The hit is borderline boarding or checking from behind. Still, it went uncalled and is the kind of on-the-edge play that matters as the NHL enters the stage of the season when the play gets a bit rougher.
There were certainly some things to clean up after Eriksson Ek’s return from injury. Still, he played a hard-nosed possession game in the matchup with Detroit, and hisfollow-up against Florida also had many encouraging signs.
Eriksson Ek’s best play of the game came on a power play, when he scored his first goal since returning from injury.
The goal was preceded by a beautiful passing play that got Kirill Kaprizov a wide-open look in front of the net. Sergei Bobrovsky made an initial save before Eriksson Ek cleaned up the rebound.
Minnesota has a lot of skill on its power play with Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes, and Matt Boldy. Still, they need someone who can do the workman-like job of being a strong net-front presence. Eriksson Ek is a gifted player, but he excels in front of the net. Plays like the one that resulted in the goal show that Eriksson Ek is a perfect complement to the rest of the Wild’s skillset.
Eriksson Ek’s goal was the most visible part of his contribution to the game, but his impact went far beyond scoring.
He completely dominated both sides of the ice at 5-on-5, leading the team in even-strength Corsi-for rating at 70%. Eriksson Ek’s puck possession, along with strong defensive play, led him to have the lowest expected goals against on the team, giving up only .05 expected goals against at 5-on-5 during the game.
Eriksson Ek’s offensive and defensive contributions gave him the best expected goals percentage on the team. The Wild completely carried play with him on the ice.
Eriksson Ek also cleaned up one of the most significant issues from his return game against Detroit: His work in the faceoff circle. In the game against Florida, Eriksson Ek won 11 faceoffs while losing just five.
Eriksson Ek’s play through his first two games back has been wildly encouraging. He’s showing no effects from the injury and is rounding into a style of play that will pay dividends for Minnesota come playoff time.
The postseason is a brutal and grinding affair, and should be even more so this season with how competitive the NHL Central Division is shaping up to be. To break through and become genuine contenders, they’re going to need to win the grinding battles that define tight series.
If the Wild get this version of Eriksson Ek, they’ll be poised to win those battles. His ability to contribute offensively, play shutdown defense, and punish opponents with his tenacity is built for postseason hockey.