ST. PAUL — Joel Eriksson Ek didn't waste any time on Thursday night.
The 27-year-old center scored his 30th goal of the season in his return from a five-game injury absence en route to the Wild's 3-1 win over the last-place San Jose Sharks inside Xcel Energy Center.
Eriksson Ek beat Sharks goalie MacKenzie Blackwood on a give-and-go with Kirill Kaprizov to give the Wild a 1-0 lead with 3:59 left in the first period.
“It’s fun; I play with good players,” Eriksson Ek said postgame Thursday. “That helps for sure. All I want to do is win games. To win as a team, I think that’s when you have the most fun.”
Eriksson Ek, who scored 19, 26 and 23 goals in his previous three seasons, reached the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career. And by doing so, he became the 11th player in franchise history to score 30 goals — joining Marian Gaborik (5), Kaprizov (3), Brian Rolston (3), Jason Pominville, Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Jason Zucker, Kevin Fiala, Ryan Hartman and Matt Boldy.
Eriksson Ek's 30 goals ranks second on the Wild and tied for 25th league wide. His 61 points, which is tied for his career high, also ranks second on the Wild.
“Good to see Ekky get his 30th,” Jonas Brodin said. “This is the first time he’s got that, so I’m happy for him. It’s huge for our team and he’s a really good guy to have in the locker room and on the ice. So, really happy for him.”
Eriksson Ek has solidified himself as one of the league's best two-way centers and has become arguably the Wild's most important player. He's the No. 1 center and plays on the first unit on both the power play and penalty kill.
“Ekky’s a guy that does it the right way all the time,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “So, it’s nice to have him back, certainly.”
“He does it all for us,” Boldy said of Eriksson Ek in a postgame interview Thursday with Bally Sports North’s Kevin Gorg. “He’s the heartbeat.”
Eriksson Ek is under contract for five more seasons with the Wild at a bargain $5.25 million annually.
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more