From the Rink: Eriksson Ek out with lower-body injury

ST. PAUL -- One of the NHL's early season surprises comes to town on Saturday as the Wild hosts Carolina Hurricanes on 80s Night at Xcel Energy Center.
Despite losing goaltender Scott Darling to injury a few days before the season opener, Carolina has captured seven of a possible eight points in its first four games, scoring 17 goals in the process.

The Canes are young and fast, led by forward Sebastian Aho, who leads the club with six points -- including two goals -- through four games.
Rookie forward Andrei Svechnikov, selected second at the most recent NHL Draft in June, has two goals and four points.

In goal, the Hurricanes have pieced it together with a pair of newcomers, as Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney have each earned a pair of starts. McElhinney, acquired off waivers from Toronto last week, has been outstanding in his two starts, stopping 53 fo 57 shots in a pair of wins.
Minnesota could be without forward Joel Eriksson Ek, who missed practice on Friday because of soreness. Charlie Coyle moved to center in his place with JT Brown skating in Coyle's place as the third-line right wing.
UPDATE: Wild coach Bruce Boudreau indicated in his pre-game availability that Eriksson Ek has a lower-body injury and will miss about a week. Eric Fehr could move up to center the third line between Coyle and Niederreiter while Brown remains the right wing on the fourth line.
Devan Dubnyk is the expected starter for the Wild in goal.

Saturday night is 80s Night at Xcel Energy Center

The Wild will host its first-ever 80s Night as part of Saturday's contest. Nearly every aspect of the game will carry a 1980s theme, including music, in-game activities and even appearances from K.I.T.T., the car in the 80s TV show "Knight Rider," and the time-traveling DeLorean of "Back to the Future" fame.

Fans are encouraged to dress in their 80s best.
Here are the projected lineups:
WILD
Jason Zucker - Eric Staal - Jordan Greenway
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Nino Niederreiter - Eric Fehr - Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno - Matt Hendricks - J.T. Brown
Ryan Suter - Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin - Jared Spurgeon
Nick Seeler - Greg Pateryn
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
HURRICANES
Micheal Ferland - Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen
Warren Foegele - Jordan Staal - Justin Williams
Brock McGinn - Martin Necas - Valentin Zykov
Jordan Martinook - Lucas Wallmark - Andrei Svechnikov
Jaccob Slavin - Dougie Hamilton
Calvin de Haan - Justin Faulk
Trevor van Riemsdyk - Brett Pesce
Curtis McElhinney
Petr Mrazek