Injuries make Wild sweat to hold their playoff spot
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Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek on the ice at Xcel Energy Center during last night's game. Photo: David Berding/Getty Images
Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek returned to the Minnesota Wild lineup Wednesday night — just in time for a fight to hold onto the team's playoff spot in the regular season's final week.
Why it matters: The Wild have endured more injuries to high-impact players than almost any other NHL franchise this season, sinking a team that once vied for the Western Conference lead into a wild card spot.
- The return of the franchise's most prolific scorer ever (Kaprizov) and its veteran center (Eriksson Ek) are exactly the medicine this team needs.
State of play: Eriksson Ek had four goals and Kaprizov scored the overtime winner in the Wild's messy 8-7 victory over San Jose on Wednesday night.
What's next: The Wild hit the road Friday to face the team trying to knock them out of the postseason picture: the Calgary Flames.
- The Flames lost Wednesday and now sit five points behind Minnesota.
Catch up quick: The first injury omen came in November, when a teammate's errant shot hurt winger Mats Zuccarello. He missed the next month — and for the team, a grim revolving door of injuries started spinning.
- Since Thanksgiving, the Wild have been without some combination of Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, captain Jared Spurgeon, the smooth-skating Jonas Brodin and sturdy defender Jake Middleton.
- During that stretch, all of those players missed at least nine games; Eriksson Ek missed more than 30 and Kaprizov missed 40.
What they're saying: "You get frustrated. You want to be out there. You want to help the team," Eriksson Ek told reporters of his recovery Wednesday night, saying he leaned on Kaprizov for emotional support as the players healed.
- "I'm just happy now to come back with the team and start playing again," Kaprizov said.
Stunning stat: Only three other teams have paid more salary to injured players than the Wild this season, according to data from NHL Injury Viz.
The intrigue: In a way, the data downplays the depth of the Wild's injury problems.
- The Wild entered the season without major health concerns, but climbed this list as injuries piled up.
- By contrast, San Jose, St. Louis and Colorado's totals are all arguably inflated by players with severe injuries who were expected to play little, if at all, this season.
Reality check: Injuries haven't kept the Dallas Stars from competing for a division title.
- Their injury totals measured by player pay ranked No. 6, just behind the Wild.
What we're watching: Whether Kaprizov is returning to the lineup in top form.
- Two years ago, Kaprizov entered the postseason cold after missing 14 of the final 17 regular season games — and was held to a single goal in the Wild's playoff series loss to Dallas.