Joel Eriksson Ek skated by himself Saturday morning at TRIA Rink in downtown St. Paul. It was the first time he has taken the ice since suffering a lower-body injury in an April 6 game against the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

The fact that Eriksson Ek is already back on his skates is pretty impressive considering he got injured blocking a slap shot from Penguins star Evgeni Malkin.

Though the Wild listed him as week to week after the injury, Eriksson Ek seems to be progressing faster than expected.

There’s a good chance he will at least travel with the Wild as they begin their first-round playoff series with the Dallas Stars this week. Asked if Eriksson Ek could possibly be ready on Monday night when the Wild play the Stars in Game 1, coach Dean Evason tried his best to downplay the timeline.

“He skated on his own this morning,” Evason said. “Just the positivity of being on the ice is encouraging.”

Johansson feeling 100 percent

After taking a cross check directly to the ribs on Tuesday night, Marcus Johansson managed to avoid serious injury. He did not suffer any broken ribs from the incident, and thus, he was back on the ice on Saturday morning as the Wild started to prepare for their game against the Stars.

“Obviously it didn’t feel good,” Johansson said. “I’m happy it’s not worse than it is.”

Asked if he thinks it’ll affect his game, Johansson replied, “Absolutely not. I felt like I could go 100 percent today, which is good. Just move on and prepare.”

That’s good news for the Wild considering Johansson produced 18 points (6 goals, 12 assists) in 20 games after being acquired at the trade deadline.

It’s likely that Johansson will be ready to go for Game 1 and will skate in his usual spot alongside Freddy Gaudreau and opposite Matt Boldy.

“That was the first practice,” Evason said. “We’ll communicate with him and see how he feels afterwards.”

Faber in position to start

Brock Faber arrived at practice on Saturday morning and saw himself listed alongside John Klingberg.

Though he has learned not to assume anything, Faber has been around the sport long enough to know what his placement on the blue line implies with the playoffs starting next week.

Are the Wild really thinking about starting the 20-year-old Faber in the playoffs?

“We could,” Evason said. “We’re getting a couple more looks. We’ve got a couple of practices. We’ll evaluate and make a decision.”

After signing his entry-level contract last week, Faber made his highly anticipated NHL debut against the Chicago Blackhawks. He got another game under his belt against the Nashville Predators. He played at a high level in both games and proved himself as someone who could contribute in the playoffs.

“Just trying to take it one day at a time,” Faber said. “Just trying to take it all in and be myself through it all.”

Evason not tipping his hand

If the Wild have made a decision about which goaltender will start Game 1, Evason has no intention of making it public.

Asked if it would be Filip Gustavsson or Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes, Evason successfully sidestepped the question.

It doesn’t appear the answer will be revealed until hours before the puck drops in Game 1.