O Spurgeon! My Captain!

ST. PAUL — One Minnesota Wild player turned in a multi-point performance Sunday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. No, it was not Kirill Kaprizov.

Captain Jared Spurgeon stole the multi-point thunder from the NHL’s best player as of late, recording a pair of assists in a tight, defensively sound 2-1 overtime victory for the Wild. Spurgeon also made the play of the game, leading to the overtime winner.

After Marco Rossi fanned on a shot in the slot in overtime, Toronto’s Max Domi pushed the puck up the ice, leading to a foot race with Spurgeon. The Wild defenseman, who turns 35 years old at the end of the month, showed off his wheels and got to the puck at the Wild blue line. Spurgeon turned and fired the puck through the neutral zone up to Rossi and Matt Boldy for a 2-on-0 opportunity.

“Even if he kept that puck, there’s no doubt Spurge is catching him,” Boldy said. “Just the type of guy he is, the type of player he is.

“Just how smart he is. Right on the tape.”

Rossi tapped the puck over to Boldy, who didn’t miss on the breakaway, roofing the puck to send the Xcel Energy Center crowd into a frenzy as the Wild improved to 8-1-2 this season.

Wild teammates credit defenseman Jared Spurgeon with being a smart player on the ice. Spurgeon assisted on both Wild goals in the victory over Toronto on Nov. 3. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“Once I moved out to Bolds and saw him give it back to Marco, I just figured get back to where I’m most comfortable, and I was fortunate I was able to keep my speed and get that puck,” Spurgeon said. “Bolds had a great place there in the middle, and obviously a great move on the breakaway to end it.”

Spurgeon assisted on both goals, doubling his points total this season in his five games played. It was his first multi-point game since March 27, 2023, against Seattle. Sunday marked Spurgeon’s 41st career multi-assist game, ranking him third in franchise history behind Mikko Koivu (93) and Ryan Suter (56), according to Minnesota Wild PR.

“He’s so smart on the ice,” forward Frederick Gaudreau said of Spurgeon, after the Wild’s Oct. 31 practice. “Makes always the right plays, always in your face.”

The captain returns
But Spurgeon is still getting back into the swing of the season. He missed the first six games on the team’s lengthy seven-game road trip in October, meeting up with the team about halfway through the trip before finally suiting up again for the Oct. 29 game in Pittsburgh. He played nearly 20 minutes in that game, where the focus was mostly on goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury’s likely final regular-season game in his old stomping grounds.

“He did great,” Wild coach John Hynes said after the Oct. 31 practice, of Spurgeon’s game against the Penguins. “He was out in full practice today. He was in for treatments yesterday, and everything was good. So, all good on that front.”

Spurgeon was a plus-one with a shot on goal in 18:50 of ice time in the 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Nov. 1.

The captain is back after playing a career-low 16 games last season, his time limited due to shoulder, hip and back injuries. He skated in the first two home games to open this season before sitting out again.

Not being on the ice for most of the road trip left Spurgeon in an unfortunate but familiar, spot: Watching his teammates play. But there was an upside on this trip, compared to when he sat out for most of last season when the Wild finished with a 39-34-9 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

“It’s a lot easier to watch them when they’re winning,” Spurgeon said.

While he said it was tough missing some games early on this season, he also leans on the support of the management, trainers and teammates to get him through.

Jared Spurgeon on April 8, 2023 in a game against the St. Louis Blues, the last time the defenseman scored a goal. He played in only 16 games last season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Though the Wild coaching change – Dean Evason fired and John Hynes hired – was nearly a calendar year ago, Spurgeon entered training camp this season getting used to the new structure Hynes put in place. With being out last season, not playing right away and not being part of those meetings, Spurgeon said it took a little while through training camp and the first couple of games to get used to the new systems in play.

Respect of his teammates
Turning the page to a new season, Spurgeon, who’s been on the Wild since the 2010-11 season, was most excited to get back to playing the game. He’s also happy to be back around his teammates a lot more.

“You’re in it in a different circumstance last year,” Spurgeon said. “But you’re still in the dressing room every game. Every game day when they’re at home, I was here. Every practice as well. You’re still around, but you’re not in it to know what’s going on or get the feel for it as much.”

No doubt Spurgeon is happy to be back in the dressing room postgame, taking off his gear after a hard-fought win like Sunday’s against Toronto. His speedy effort on the backcheck in overtime earned him some kudos from his teammates in the form of the oversized “HARD” chain necklace the team awards a player after each game.

“He’s such a big part of our team,” Gaudreau said. “Last year was tough without him. You could tell there’s so much poise and stability that he brings that you rarely find that in players. So much experience.

“He’s not a guy you can just replace. We like to have him in the lineup, of course.”