LAS VEGAS — For all of the attention that individual talent garners in hockey, the fact that statistically a goal and an assist are both worth one point illustrates the value of teamwork among the six players on the ice at any given time.

On Saturday, following their final full practice before the playoffs began Sunday night in Las Vegas, a few members of the Minnesota Wild joked that there was no gold watch given to center Joel Eriksson Ek for helping them get there.

It’s true that without Eriksson Ek’s goal in the final seconds of regulation in their regular-season finale against Anaheim last week, the Wild would have missed the playoffs. But in a game where teamwork trumps all else, even the goal-scorer passed it off as just another shift.

“It looked like that, but it’s an 82-game season … that came down to one or two points,” Eriksson Ek said following the Wild’s practice at City National Arena in the Las Vegas suburbs.

Big player, big plays

Still, for those who have watched Eriksson Ek’s game since the Wild grabbed him 20th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, that final regular-season goal he scored was a vintage example of going to the net-front with his 6-foot-3 frame and not leaving until he saw the red light flash.

For Wild fans, it was a reminder of all that was missing for most of March, when Eriksson Ek and high-scoring winger Kirill Kaprizov worked their way back from injuries that cost them huge chunks of their respective seasons.

When Eriksson Ek goes to the front of the net in the defensive zone, he makes it a challenge for opponents to cause havoc for the Minnesota goalies. And when Eriksson Ek goes to the front of the net in the offensive zone, he is the havoc.

“We have to win battles at the net and most of the goals are scored there,” he said, reaffirming that the net-front game is an emphasis versus the Golden Knights in Round 1. “So, for us, to be real solid in front of our own net and the offensive zone, we really need to be jumping on loose pucks.”

The size and presence in front of the net were certainly factors a decade ago when the previous Wild hockey operations regime grabbed Eriksson Ek from Farjestad in his native Sweden. He made his NHL debut in the 2016-17 season and has rarely worn anything but red and green since. A notable exception came in February, when Eriksson Ek — along with Wild teammates Filip Gustavsson and Jonas Brodin — skated for Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Long road back

Sporting blue and gold and the distinctive three crowns of his homeland, Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist in the three games he played there.

He played in an overtime win in Detroit upon returning from the tournament, recording an assist, but all was not right with Eriksson Ek’s body, and he was shut down a short time later due to what Hynes called a “usage injury” and missed the next 21 games.

With both Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov out of the lineup, the Wild held their own in March, just barely staying above the cut-off line for the playoffs. In the meantime, the Wild’s two most important offensive players were leaning on each other to find a way back onto the line chart.

“When guys like that go down, it’s hard,” said Wild forward Matt Boldy, who has spent plenty of time on Eriksson Ek’s wing. “He does everything for us — power play, penalty kill, five-on-five, D-zone faceoffs, everything. (He’s) kind of a guy that you know what you’re going to get every night. It’s good, hard, strong hockey, and to have him back is huge. When you play with him, he makes it pretty easy.”

Asked if he picked up any new hobbies during the down time, Erikssson Ek had a smile.

“Nothing really new. … You rehab, you work out, you go back in the afternoon, you watch the games. Just a lot of hockey and a lot of time at the rink,” he said, expressing thanks for having Kaprizov with him in the recovery journey. “I think it was pretty nice for both of us having each other to lean on, just to kind of be in it together there and doing the work together. Doing all the stuff together for sure made it easier.”

The pair returned for a April 9 home game with San Jose, and while nothing came easily defensively, Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov offered a stark reminder of the difference they can make when healthy. Eriksson Ek scored four of the team’s seven regulation goals, while Kaprizov had one in regulation and the overtime winner in a vital 8-7 victory over San Jose.

Shooting and smiling

All of it was done with a smile that sometimes masks the mean streak needed to play a net-front game, which is called one of hockey’s “dirty areas” for a reason. Eriksson Ek is always a nice guy off the ice, but that can be deceiving.

‘I wouldn’t call him that nice,” said Boldy, who played against Eriksson Ek in the 4 Nations tournament. “He’s a special player with the stuff he does, but when you start playing with other guys and they ask about him, you say how great he is, but everyone’s first (comment) is they hate him. … He’s definitely a menace, and that blue paint is where he likes to be.”

Vegas doesn’t take many penalties, so power plays are likely to be rare in this series. Those rare opportunities are when Hynes expects Eriksson Ek’s size and skill to be most vital, adding that his intensity is what sets him apart from other forwards his size.

When the red light turns on, with Eriksson Ek standing in the opposing goalie’s face, fans see the smile that is so common a part of off-ice life for Joel Eriksson Ek.

“He’s a highly competitive guy. I think he takes pride in being the player he is. He’s a very intense competitor, he knows how to play and is willing to play in the hard areas of the ice,” Hynes said. “He takes pride in the power play not just at the net-front, but puck retrievals and allowing second and third opportunities on the power play.”

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LAS VEGAS — In a season where injuries have been so much a part of the storyline for the Minnesota Wild, the run-up to the playoffs has been about additions to, rather than subtractions from, the roster.

Two rare exceptions to the non-stop injury parade have been defensemen Jon Merrill and Declan Chisholm; each has been a healthy scratch this season, but between them they have missed just four games, total, due to injury.

But with Jake Middleton healthy again, and Zeev Buium becoming the first player in Wild franchise history to make his NHL debut in a playoff game, that means both Merrill and Chisholm were set to spectators on Sunday night. Their said such decisions aren’t easy, especially when players who have been good soldiers all year need to come out of the lineup.

“Those guys have battled for you all year long, and obviously they’re not happy about it. But they’re good team guys,” John Hynes said. “They’ll do what’s right for the team, and I think they all know that you get in these series, and most playoff series or playoff runs, you need eight to nine defensemen, usually, to be able to impact your team.”

Having gone through 82 games where the Wild roster looked different most nights, and heading into a postseason where injuries — especially on defense — are a normal part of the picture, Hynes is fully aware that a healthy scratch for Game 1 could be a vital part of the roster later in the series.

“They’re not happy about it, which I get — and I’m good with,” Hynes said. “But we had a good conversation and I told them where I was coming from, and they told me where they were coming from, and you walk out of that room and you’re all in it together about what’s best for the team.”

Another Wild forward, Devin Shore, played 55 regular season games on the team’s fourth line, with a goal and four assists before being sent to the AHL when Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek got healthy. While he was not in the Game 1 lineup, the Wild recalled Shore from Iowa on Sunday and Hynes said he, too, could be an important depth player as the series rolls on.

“He gives us good center depth, which is one of the reasons he was with us throughout the year,” Hynes said. “On top of him being a really good player, I think he’s a great teammate, fits in really well with our group, plays a really responsible game and he provides center depth if we need it after this game.”

Time off

March was a grind for the Wild, as they played without key players, saw their once-secure playoff prospects become more challenging. Because of the condensed schedule following the 4 Nations Face-Off break in February, they played a game almost every other night.

That is in sharp contrast to the run-up to Game 1, which gave Minnesota four full days, and most of Easter Sunday, before facing Vegas. And while they were itching to play by the time Sunday’s playoff opener started, most players were fine with a bit of a break.

“It’s a little different, that’s for sure, but there are a lot of things to dive into with meetings and things, so it’s nice to have that extra time for sure,” Wild captain Jared Spurgeon said.

Hynes said there needs to be a balance between rested and rusty, but overall he was happy the team could take a breather before the noise and intensity of facing the Golden Knights on the road.

“We were grinding there for a while and I think it was … nice to have a day off for them to relax and refocus, and then you have a couple practice days,” Hynes said, noting that his team arrived in Nevada on Friday rather than the day before the game, which is normal in the regular season. “We were able to come out here early and practice and get set up and be around each other and then (get) time to clearly shift the focus from getting here to Vegas and what we need to do now.”

This is the 14th time since the Wild entered the NHL in 2000 that the franchise has qualified for the playoffs.

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The Timberwolves missed three of their first four 3-point attempts on Saturday in Los Angeles. They also missed their final three of the night.

In between those stretches, Minnesota was a blazing inferno, hitting 20 of 35 attempts from beyond the arc to blitz the Lakers in Game 1.

“I mean, they had great shots, honestly,” Lakers wing Luka Doncic noted.

Indeed. Twenty-seven of Minnesota’s 42 3-point attempts were “wide open” according to Second Spectrum data available on NBA.com.

The Lakers don’t have a wing stopper, nor a rim protector around which to construct a defense. So, they play a condensed scheme that relies on positioning to collapse on opposing star players. So, every time any Wolves player — primarily, Anthony Edwards — got into the teeth of the defense, numerous shooters were left open around the perimeter.

Minnesota made itself even more difficult to guard through consistent off-ball movement where shooters relocated to open spots around the arc that created simple passes for Edwards to make.

“We watched a lot of film. Obviously, one thing we needed to work on — not just for this series, but in general — was just movement off the ball,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “And (Saturday) we did a really good job of relocating, making ourselves available for anybody who was making a drive towards the rim and drawing two people on them.

“(The Lakers) do a good job of loading up and bringing multiple people to the ball. So, we knew we just had to keep moving. We had to keep our bodies moving and make the extra play, make the extra read and not turn it over. As a result, we were getting good looks.”

Twenty-seven wide-open 3-point attempts is a big number. Minnesota averaged 20 throughout the regular season. If you generate that many high-value shots in a playoff game, your chances of success skyrocket.

“We know they have a lot of lasers. They have a lot of guys that can shoot from the perimeter,” Lakers forward LeBron James said. “So, we’ve gotta do a better job of closing the bodies, getting out on shooters. We’ll get back in the film room (Sunday), look at the things that we did well, some of the things that we didn’t do so well and continue to gameplan for Game 2. We’ve got a couple days to prep for that.”

It will be interesting to see if the Lakers determine they can continue to play their heavy-gap help scheme moving forward; it’s vulnerable to creating open catch-and-shoot 3s for their opponent.

Will Los Angeles try a different approach in an effort to patch an obvious hole from Game 1? Or will it take its chances on Minnesota’s shots not falling at the same rate on Tuesday?

Minnesota is a great 3-point shooting team. It has been all season. The Timberwolves finished the regular season with the fourth-highest 3-point percentage (37.7%) on the fifth-highest volume (39.9 attempts per game).

Much of that success did from Edwards, of whom the Lakers were aware around the perimeter Saturday. But Donte DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid and Mike Conley were also snipers, and the Lakers were largely done in by Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle. Those two combined to go 7 for 9 from deep on a night where Minnesota had a shooting performance to remember.

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The Wolves hit 19 of their 27 wide-open attempts Saturday. That 70% clip is the highest of any team in the NBA this season that attempted at least 23 in a game. Had Minnesota hit the regular 40% of wide open 3-point attempts it made throughout the season, the Wolves would have scored 18 fewer points.

With their season effectively on the line Tuesday, will the Lakers play the percentages?

Throughout the ages crows have been getting a bad rap. Along with being considered big, black, ugly and stupid, their singing is anything but beautiful. I’m sure you’ve heard the old expression about someone eating crow, meaning they were proved wrong and humiliated. Truthfully, crows are one of the smartest birds around. In fact, according to Greek and Roman mythology, crows were once the most respected birds on Earth. Back then, they were highly exalted and intelligent and possessed glorious voices that delighted all. They also had bright white feathers with gold trim on their wings and tails. Crows served the gods and goddesses as reliable messengers on Mount Olympus with great distinction until Corvus, the bungling, dishonest crow, messed it up for all crows forever.

That’s one of the myths of the springtime constellation Corvus the Crow. Like many spring constellations, it’s not all that big and not all that bright, but it is distinctive. Look for a lopsided trapezoid in the low south-southeastern sky that pops out as soon as it’s dark enough this time of year.  How that lopsided trapezoid is supposed to be a crow is certainly beyond me, but it has a heck of a story.

Apollo, the god of the sun, sent Corvus the crow on a quick but important mission to fetch water from a nearby, ultra-clear spring. Apollo sent off Corvus with one of his favorite king-sized chalices. That’s how much he cherished this spring water. Corvus didn’t know exactly where the spring was, and being a male crow, he was too stubborn to ask for directions.

Finally, in the mid-afternoon during the heat of the day, he arrived at the spring. Corvus was so hot and his throat so dry that he immediately plunged himself in the spring and had to get his fill of the precious water. He was about to begin filling up Apollo’s giant chalice when he saw a nearby fig tree loaded with fresh fruit. He rocketed to the tree and set the chalice down. The fruit was amazing. He told Apollo that he’d be back by suppertime, but he couldn’t stop eating the fruit. It was that good! Before he knew it was almost sunset, and there was no way he’d make it back to Apollo until the middle of the night.

Corvus was in a tight spot. He had to come up with a good excuse, hook or crook, for getting back home so late. His wheels were turning. Just after he filled Apollo’s giant chalice, he saw a water snake swimming close by. He quickly plucked it out of the water and that innocent snake was his scapegoat. With chalice clutched by one talon and the snake by the other, he put it into overdrive and flew home as fast as he could.

As he got closer to Mount Olympus, Corvus could see Apollo standing out on the edge of a cliff. From half a mile away, he could already see Apollo’s glare. When Corvus made his landing, he explained to Apollo that the water snake he captured tried to keep him from filling the chalice and he had to fight him off for hours.

Apollo was having none of this. He went on a rampage and fired Corvus on the spot. He didn’t stop there, though. Apollo banned all crows from Mount Olympus and used his magical godly powers to transform all crows from their beautiful white and gold colors to the jet black we see today. Continuing his tantrum, he waved his finger in anger once again and collectively turned all the crows’ beautiful singing voices into the caw caw we hear today. To top it off, Apollo flung Corvus, the chalice and the water snake in the sky to become the constellations we still see in the spring.

(Mike Lynch)

The lopsided trapezoid that makes up the constellation Corvus is easy to find but nearby Crater the Chalice and Hydra the Snake are much tougher to spot and are definitely deep-track constellations.

Celestial happenings this week

There’s a newly discovered faint comet available in the very early morning twilight. Comet SWAN may be visible in the very low northeastern sky just before morning twilight begins, around 4:30 to 5 a.m. It may be visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy star with a short tail, although you’ll probably need binoculars or a small telescope to spot it. Morning twilight will eventually wash it out. There are predictions that it’ll be much brighter toward the first part of May when it’s visible in the early evening sky, but I certainly wouldn’t take that to the bank.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.

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