Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon out against Blues on Tuesday

For the second game in a row, the Minnesota Wild are going to be without two of their key players. The team announced that forward Joel Eriksson Ek and captain Jared Spurgeon will not play in Tuesday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

The two veterans were held out of the lineup on Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets, with the Wild losing 2-1 in overtime.

Eriksson Ek is still recovering from a broken nose that he suffered last Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken, a game Minnesota lost 5-4 in a shootout. He didn’t travel with the team to Winnipeg but was originally projected to be in the lineup against the Blues.

The 27-year-old has played in just two games so far this season, scoring a goal in the team’s season-opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 10. Eriksson Ek is coming off a career-best campaign in which he scored 30 goals and 64 points, both single-season highs.

The Swedish center is in the fourth year of an eight-year contract with an AAV of $5.25 million.

Eriksson Ek has played in 500 NHL games, all with the Wild, totaling 123 goals and 148 assists for 271 points, with another 10 points combining 26 Stanley Cup Playoff appearances.

Spurgeon is still listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The longtime blueliner registered an assist in the loss to the Kraken, also having played just two games thus far. The current ailment comes after the 34-year-old had multiple injuries throughout the 2023-24 campaign, as Spurgeon played just 16 games, registering only five assists.

The Edmonton native is in the middle of the fifth season of his eight-year contract extension, which he signed with Minnesota in Sept. 2019. The deal carries a $7.5 million AAV.

Spurgeon has been Minnesota’s captain since the 2020-21 season and has been crucial in the team’s run to the playoffs over his 14-year career. In 869 games, he has scored 110 goals and 275 assists for 385 points, including 29 points in 67 playoff games.