After leaving less than 20 seconds into Game 3, it seemed like a longshot that Joel Eriksson Ek would be ready for Game 4.
He wasn’t.
A couple of hours before puck drop, coach Dean Evason confirmed that Eriksson Ek would not play Sunday night at Xcel Energy Center when the Wild played host to the Dallas Stars. Asked about the potential of Eriksson Ek returning at some point down the road, Evason sidestepped the question as best he could.
“I don’t think there’s anything announced yet,” the coach said. “He’s just not available to us tonight.”
The ongoing saga with Eriksson Ek started during an April 6 road game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He blocked a shot from Penguins star Evgeni Malkin and immediately exited stage left in a ton of pain. Originally ruled as week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Eriksson Ek resumed skating shortly before the playoffs started.
That proved to be a good sign, and after missing Game 1 and and taking morning skate ahead of Game 2, Eriksson Ek made his highly-anticipated return for Game 3. Unfortunately for the Wild, he didn’t even complete a full shift, leaving down the tunnel after 19 seconds of ice time.
The natural choice to replace Eriksson Ek in the lineup seemed be Sam Steel. That proved to be the case as Steel centered Marcus Johansson and Matt Boldy in the game.
Gustavsson gets nod
Filip Gustavsson led the Wild onto the ice ahead of Game 4, putting an end to any concern that he might not get the nod.
The only reason anyone was wondering about the starter is because the Wild turned to Marc-Andre Fleury last week en route to a blowout loss in Dallas. Though it’s not fair to blame that result solely on Fleury — his teammates hung him out to dry way too many times — even he admitted he wasn’t sharp in the contest
Though it’s unclear how long the net will be his and his alone, Gustavsson appears to be the guy moving forward.
Pavelski making progress
Some reinforcements might be on the way for the road team.
It sounds like Stars winger Joe Pavelski is making progress and could return at some point in the first round.
That’s good news considering Pavelski has been in concussion protocol since last week when he took a big hit from Matt Dumba.
“I’m optimistic we’ll see him at some point,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I don’t want to put any pressure on that timeline with what he’s dealing with.”
