Hynes: Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek 'huge difference-makers' in returns
Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes was thrilled to see Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek make a substantial impact in their returns during Wednesday's 8-7 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks.
"Obviously (Eriksson Ek) and Kirill were huge difference-makers in the game," Hynes said postgame. "I'm happy for a lot of different reasons in that respect. It's hard on those guys. They're obviously tremendous competitors, they mean so much to the team and personally, they want to play, and that was a lot of time off, a lot of rehab, a lot of dark days for them as well.
He added, "I give those guys credit, I give our training staff, our doctors, and our strength and conditioning coaches credit. The guys were ready to play."
Eriksson Ek sat for 21 contests after getting hurt during practice in February, while Kaprizov had missed 28 straight games and 40 of the Wild's last 43 with a lower-body injury.
Kaprizov quipped that his lengthy recovery was "boring," but his first game back was anything but.
The Wild held a 2-1 lead over the Sharks after the first period before the game erupted. The teams combined for six goals in the second period and five in the third, with San Jose scoring three straight to force overtime.
Kaprizov potted the winner for his second tally of the contest, bringing his total to 25 goals in just 38 outings. Eriksson Ek, meanwhile, went off for his first career four-goal game.
The offensive outburst was a refreshing sight for Minnesota, which entered Wednesday dead last in goals per game (2.18) since the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
"They're our two best players," forward Matt Boldy said. "If you take any team's two best players away, that's a huge difference. Such an impact that those guys have in every aspect of the team."
The Wild have won back-to-back games after picking up one victory in their previous seven contests. They occupy the West's first wild-card spot with a 43-29-7 record and hold a five-point cushion over the Calgary Flames, whom they'll face Friday.
Netminder Marc-Andre Fleury is hopeful that Wednesday's win is a sign of things to come.
"That's the goal," Fleury said when asked if Minnesota can be as good as it was earlier in the season. "That's where we want to be, that's where we believe we can be. ... We're getting healthy, slowly but surely.
"If tonight can be a little bit of a show of what we can do, if we keep our grinding attitude from the past couple months and add a little bit of offense here and there from these guys, I think we'll be dangerous."