It's time to worry about Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek's health. Eriksson Ek is on pace for 43 points in 68 games. He plays a demanding role as the team's garbage man in grueling matchups. Opponents constantly cross-check him in the back when he's in front of their net.

The Wild are now 3-1-1 in early starts following the Martin Luther King Jr. Day afternoon game in Colorado, a 3-1 win for Minnesota.

ST PAUL, Minn. — With a win on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche, the Minnesota Wild are off to a good start this season. Joe O'Donnell, a radio play-by-play announcer, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to break down the team's success.

The defenseman scored his first goal for Minnesota against Nashville and is sticking to his plan to “go day by day.”

Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon could each return to the lineup for the Wild against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+). Each took part in line rushes at practice on Wednesday, and coach John Hynes said he is "cautiously optimistic" that they would play.

Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes wouldn't make a full proclamation at Wednesday morning's practice, but says he's "cautiously optimistic" Kirill Kaprizov and Jared Spurgeon will return this week - possible as soon as Thursday's home game against Utah.

Superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and veteran defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned to practice on Wednesday. Head coach John Hynes told reporters he's "cautiously optimistic" that both will play in their upcoming game against the Utah Hockey Club at Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes expressed his frustration regarding the referee's explanation following a controversial no-call on Connor McDavid's elbow to Marcus Johansson on Wednesday.

Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek smiled when asked about two of his longtime teammates returning from injuries this week.

The Wild's Kirill Kaprizov is expected to play Thursday after a longer-than-expected break for injury. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

And the clearest signal that Kaprizov and Spurgeon would be back is that the Wild reassigned defenseman David Jiricek two hours after practice. If you did the salary cap math, it really was the only option to get below the cap ceiling once Kaprizov is activated from LTIR.