- The Wild will be without top center Joel Eriksson Ek for Thursday’s game against the Ducks, but head coach John Hynes confirmed he won’t be absent for long as Minnesota battles to hang on in the Western Conference wild-card race (via Michael Russo of The Athletic). The 27-year-old sustained an undisclosed injury in the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Coyotes and did not return and is listed as day-to-day. Minnesota has not placed him on injured reserve, so he’s eligible to return at any time, but he’s still expected to miss a few games. In the third season of an eight-year, $42MM extension, Eriksson Ek is having a career year with 60 points and a +16 rating in 66 games while averaging 20:39 per game, second only to Kirill Kaprizov among Wild skaters.