DENVER -- Down 1-0 in the series, the Minnesota Wild will be without forward Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin for Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal against the Colorado Avalanche. Both players are nursing lower-body injuries, and did not make the trip to Denver.
Wild coach John Hynes, who said the team still needed to make "a couple decisions on the lineup" ahead of Game 1 on Sunday night, eventually turned to Daemon Hunt and Danila Yurov to complete his roster. The Avalanche won 9-6.
Colorado was without defenseman Josh Manson, who missed the series clincher against the Los Angeles Kings last Sunday because of an upper-body injury. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar inserted Nick Blankenburg into the lineup to complete his roster. The team acquired Blankenburg in a deal with Nashville on March 4.
"He's played good in the time he's been with us," Bednar said before the win. "We got him for a reason -- like the way he moves, like the way he moves the puck. He plays with a little bite. He's got to stay within himself. It's going to be a challenge for him tonight because the thing we'll miss with [Manson] is the size, the strength, the physicality."
Eriksson Ek had three goals and two assists in the Wild's first-round series win over Dallas. He finished with a 56.4% faceoff win rate.
"Ekky's a big part of the team," Hynes said. "When you lose a guy that plays that many situations, you have to do it collectively as a group, and it's not all on one guy."
Brodin didn't play in Game 6 against Dallas.
Hynes said because of the break between Games 2 and 3 -- the teams play Tuesday and not again until Saturday -- that "both those guys will be reevaluated and see where it goes from there."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
