Ahead of the evening's game in St. Paul between the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild, Tuesday morning made it the Wild's turn to receive some un-welcome injury news.
Namely, (per The Athletic's Michael Russo) center Joel Eriksson Ek (who picked up an injury during Monday's practice) has been placed on injured reserve and will miss Tuesday night's game (and at least the three games after that). Jakob Lauko will take Eriksson Ek's place on Minnesota's roster.
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
During Saturday's game between those two teams at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Eriksson Ek was arguably the Wild's most influential forward, with his trademark defensive stick showing up in a big way during Minnesota's late comeback. His absence is a significant one for the Wild in the short and medium term. The Wild were already without their superstar in Kirill Kaprizov, who has been out since late January, and now their forward depth will be tested even further.
Of course, the Red Wings are dealing with their own minor injury crisis at the moment, bracing for the absence of both Michael Rasmussen and Andrew Copp, so both teams will be at something less than 100% health heading into Tuesday's game.
How Will Red Wings' Forwards Respond to Loss of Copp & Rasmussen?
On Tuesday night in St. Paul, the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings">Detroit Red Wings</a> will take on the Minnesota Wild, and they will be doing so absent a pair of centers: Andrew Copp and Michael Rasmussen, who had been in the middle of Detroit's second and third lines.
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.