"I didn't do it on purpose," Eriksson Ek said, a smile crossing his face. "I just skated right into him."
Evason just shook his head.
"It was probably the first thing he did, was get involved contact-wise," Evason said. "But he doesn't even know he's doing it."
No harm, no foul, right? Both Eriksson Ek and Benn were just fine after the collision, so maybe the contact was a blessing in disguise for a guy like Eriksson Ek, who thrives on a physical, grinding brand of hockey.
In that regard, it's no easy task to ask a guy wired like Eriksson Ek to avoid contact. It's simply in his nature.
"It's a little bit different to go out there and not expect to get contact," Eriksson Ek said. "But it didn't hurt me and I don't think it hurt him, so it was good."
Minnesota still has a couple of days until its next outing, a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center. Evason said he isn't pencilling Eriksson Ek into his lineup just yet, but he's hopeful that if things continue to progress the way they have, that Eriksson Ek will be able to re-join the lineup.
If it's up to the player, however, he will be back.
"I hope so, yeah," Eriksson Ek said.
The timing of the injury, which was sustained Dec. 20 against the Dallas Stars, was a bit of a double-edged sword.
On one hand, Eriksson Ek was forced to miss the Winter Classic on New Year's Day, a game he had been looking forward to for a long time.
On the other, he's missed only three games total on an injury sustained nearly a month ago, because of various postponements in the Wild's schedule due to COVID-19 protocol and Canadian attendance concerns.
The Wild has managed to go 2-1-0 in those three games, losing the Winter Classic to the St. Louis Blues before rebounding in wins over Boston and Washington last week.
"If you look at it that way (missing the Winter Classic), it sucks. It was bad timing because I really wanted to play in that game," Eriksson Ek said. "But if you look at it the other way, maybe it came at a good time because we had less games and hopefully I've healed up over that time and I'll be ready to play."
If Eriksson Ek is able to return on Friday, it comes at what could be a busy next few months for the Wild.
With the Olympic break now expected to be filled with postponed games from the past couple of weeks, it sure seems like the Wild caught a break in getting Eriksson Ek back for games he would have otherwise missed.
"I'm glad so far it has worked out well, and it's going to be great to see how it is to play and go from there," Eriksson Ek said.
