Wild Check-In: Eriksson Ek Leads & Defense Continues to Struggle

The Wild started on the right path with a decisive win over a struggling Canadiens team, but then things got rough with losses against the Kings and Blue Jackets. Also, some new injuries have been an issue for the Wild since their first week of play. Of course, everyone knew Jared Spurgeon was injured going into the season, but Matt Boldy and Alex Goligoski were added to that list during the second week. 

Wild’s Main Scorers Lead

It may not be surprising that this early in the season, the stars of the week are the players expected to lead the way throughout the season. However, the name at the top of the list is not Kirill “The Thrill” Kaprizov; instead, it’s Joel Eriksson Ek. He was successful during five-on-five and the power play this past week. 

Eriksson Ek registered five points in the past three games, two on the power play and the other three during even strength. He’s also neck and neck with Kaprizov for who had the most shots on goal last week; he had 12 while Kaprizov had 13. Eriksson Ek had some company at the top with Mats Zuccarello, who also had five points. 

Zuccarello’s points were more one-sided, with one being a goal and the other four being assists, but they were evenly spread between even strength and the power play. He recorded three points on the man advantage and two while five-on-five. While Eriksson Ek and Zuccarello were tied for first place, behind them was Kaprizov.

It may have taken three games, but Kaprizov scored his first goal of the season, giving him the momentum to add a second before the week was over. He finished the week with two goals plus two assists for four points and rounded out the top three in scoring for the Wild during week two of the season. 

Wild Need More Defense

There isn’t one player to blame for the Wild’s struggling defensive skills throughout the roster except for the loss of a particular player to injury, Spurgeon. They did okay in the first game without him, but it’s been a consistent problem after that. Nearly every goal that’s been scored against the Wild seems to be because a defenseman was out of position. The few times the defense has been in the right area, someone else failed to block a shot and allowed it to deflect past their goaltender. 

Playing without their leader and a big piece of their defensive core may be challenging, but injuries happen, and the team must adapt. They have their systems in place and should be able to continue executing them. However, others have to step up and fill the void; with Spurgeon out and Goligoski and Boldy, more players must prove themselves. 

This also includes the goaltenders Marc-André Fleury and Filip Gustavsson, who have areas to improve as the season progresses. When the defense in front of them fails, they’re the last line of defense and must be relied on to make the final stop. It is early in the season, so there’s time to fix these bumps that have come up and get some wins going again. 

Wild’s Week Ahead

The Wild will have four games this week, one at home and three on the road. The first will be against the Edmonton Oilers, with the following three against the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, and New Jersey Devils. The Flyers and Capitals games will be the Wild’s first back-to-back of the season. 

They’ll need to step up their game to get through this week and keep scorers like Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, John Carlson, Matthew Phillips, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt off the scoreboard. One player they won’t have to worry about currently, however, is Connor McDavid; it was recently announced that he’ll miss one to two weeks with an upper-body injury. 

While their defense is busy trying to improve themselves and keep those players off the scoreboard, the Wild’s offense will have to find a way past the goaltenders. They must keep their shot totals up when trying to get past names like Jack Campbell, Carter Hart, Darcy Kuemper, and Akira Schmid or Vítek Vaněček. 

It will be a tough week with their injured players still out and their defensive struggles, but they can overcome them. They’re a strong team that needs to focus and play more robust defense. Hopefully, someone steps up and leads the way throughout this week just like Eriksson Ek did, and they’ll be able to come away with a few more wins.