The return of Joel Eriksson Ek has been a talking point ever since the Wild started their first-round series against the Dallas Stars.
It came to fruition on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center, and he didn’t even last a full shift.
After getting announced last in the starting lineup, and drawing a massive ovation from the sellout crowd, Eriksson Ek left less than 20 seconds into the game. He did not return.
“It’s sad,” coach Dean Evason said of Eriksson Ek reinjuring himself. “His will to get back out there with his teammates was tremendous.”
Whenever someone brought up Eriksson Ek postgame it was a similar tenor. Nonetheless, the Wild picked themselves up in the immediate aftermath, then managed to scratch and claw their way to a 5-1 win over the Stars.
Whether it was Mats Zuccarello busting out of a slump, Marcus Johansson continuing his excellence, or Marcus Foligno firing up the crowd, the collective stepped up like it has so many times this season.
“We had no choice,” Johansson said. “It is what it is. I think everyone stepped up and we didn’t change our plan. We didn’t change anything. We just stuck with it.”
That win in Game 3 helped the Wild take a 2-1 lead in the series with Game 4 set for Sunday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. in St. Paul.
There was intensity from the onset on this particular night thanks to Mason Shaw delivering a rousing “LET’S PLAY HOCKEY!” call before puck drop. It manifested itself in different ways early on, with players getting physical after the whistle, and the fans booing Stars defenseman Ryan Suter every time he touched the puck.
“Our fans were unbelievable tonight,” Foligno said. “You could feel a buzzing in the arena from warmups on.”
Still, the sellout crowd was looking for a reason to explode, and Zuccarello provided it with a sweeping backhander late in the first period to make it 1-0.
That score held until early in the second period, when Johansson stretched the lead to 2-0 with an incredible move in front of Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger. The proved to be shortlived, as Stars center Luke Glendening cut the deficit to 2-1 on the ensuing shift.
The physicality continued to ramp up as the second period wore on, and Foligno made it 3-1 with a perfect redirection in the slot.
Though the officials initially waved off the goal, upon further review, they ruled that Foligno’s stick was at or below the height of the crossbar when he redirected the puck. Hilariously, after already celebrating his goal a couple of minutes earlier, Foligno made sure he fist bumped his teammates once again afterward.
“You want to be able to celebrate correctly,” Foligno said with a laugh. “I was able to go through the line.”
That paved the way for the third period, where the Wild locked it down in front of Filip Gustavsson. Then, with the game already well in hand, Zuccarello made it 4-1 with a snipe off the rush. It served as a fitting response from Zuccarello after he got into it with Stars defenseman Colin Miller earlier in the frame.
“We’re playing a really good team and we know we have to be at our best to have a chance to beat these guys,” Zuccarello said while downplaying his individual success. “It was a solid effort all around and everyone chipped in. Whether it was offensively or defensively, whatever we needed, we chipped in today.
As the final seconds ticked away, Ryan Hartman finalized the score at 5-1 with an empty-netter from long range.
Though the aftermath of Eriksson Ek reinjuring himself will reverberate for the foreseeable future, the Wild can rest easy for at least 48 hours, knowing they have taken control of the series.
“We’re not going to be thinking about this game on Sunday and neither will they,” Hartman said. “A completely new game and we’ve got to go out there and give the same effort.”
