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.”

The post O Spurgeon! My Captain! appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

It was a day before Thanksgiving last year when the Minnesota Wild general manager decided he had seen enough of his swagger-less and lethargic team and acquired winger Ryan Reaves from the New York Rangers for a 2025 fifth-round pick.

Reaves, now with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is known for fighting, but Guerin said the decision to make the move was more about Reaves’ “big personality” than it was about his ability to use his fists.

“He’s got a lot of energy,” Guerin told Michael Russo of The Athletic. “He’s got swagger. We’ve been missing that. The energy he brings is really good. … He’s going to help us get our identity back.”

Reaves provided the Wild with a spark, even before he arrived. On the day the trade was announced, the Wild cruised to a 6-1 victory over Winnipeg to improve to 9-8-2 on the season. Reaves gave the Wild plenty of swagger as the team finished third in the Central Division with 103 points.

The Wild replaced Reaves with a more skilled, big-body presence in winger Patrick Maroon this offseason and a plan to keep their swagger for 82 games. But since shutting out Florida, 2-

Ryan Reaves against Winnipeg in 2022. He helped give the Wild some swagger last season. (MHM file photo)

0, on opening night at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild have gone 2-4-2 and are coming off an East Coast trip in which they lost to Philadelphia, Washington (in a shootout) and New Jersey.

Oh, and the swagger that Reaves brought with him? That’s disappeared. Wild center Ryan Hartman told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Devils that, “When we’re playing well, we play with that swagger.”

An argument can be made that it’s too early for anyone to panic, but Guerin knows what got his team out of its funk last season and you have to wonder if he is again willing to wait until Thanksgiving before making a move?

Injuries have sidelined defenseman and captain Jared Spurgeon since the start of the season and wingers Matt Boldy and Frederick Gaudreau also are out, although Boldy is expected to return soon.

But the Wild’s early-season issues go beyond injuries.

The power play and penalty kill both struggled in the Wild’s opening-round playoff loss to Dallas last season and not much has changed, even though Minnesota brought in former Vancouver Canucks assistant Jason King to run its power play.

The Wild are 5-for-36 on the power play and their 13.9 percentage is ranked 22nd in the league. The Wild’s penalty kill is worse. Much worse. That unit ranks second-to-last in the NHL, giving up nine goals on 28 chances for a 67.9% kill rate. Last season the Wild surrendered nine goals on 24 chances in six games against the Stars in the playoffs.

The Devils, whose power play is the best in the NHL at 42.4 percent, toyed with the Wild on Sunday in going 2-for-3. The Wild had six power plays and only scored once.

One of the biggest surprises is that newly appointed alternate captain Kirill Kaprizov has yet to show the consistency expected from a superstar. He had no points and was a minus-4 on the road trip and has only two goals in nine games.

The Wild’s first line of Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Hartman each have nine points — tied for second on the team behind Joel Eriksson Ek’s 10 — but they also are a combined minus-10 and their performance in a brutal loss against the Flyers left coach Dean Evason infuriated.

Marco Rossi against the Florida Panthers in this season’s home opener. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The idea has been floated of replacing Hartman with third-line center Marco Rossi, who is finally delivering on what was expected of him when he was selected with the ninth pick of the 2020 draft.

Rossi spent the offseason getting bigger and stronger and now looks like he belongs in the NHL. He has three goals and four points in nine games and would give the first line a more skilled player than the hard-working Hartman, whose six goals lead the Wild.

Putting Rossi with Kaprizov and Zuccarello could present Evason with an opportunity to inform Zuccarello that his need to overpass the puck to Kaprizov can end. Rossi also could replace Zuccarello on the power play, especially since the veteran has yet to score with the man advantage this season.

Of course, Evason could look to Guerin to shake up things if they don’t improve soon. Spurgeon’s return will help on the blue line, but to think he will give the Wild their swagger back is a stretch.

The Wild’s salary-cap situation makes any type of major move nearly impossible, but obtaining Reaves a year ago did the trick without causing any issues. If the Wild’s play doesn’t pick up soon, it won’t be surprising if Guerin decides a repeat performance is in order.

The post Slow start appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The post Gallery: Wild vs. Toronto appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesota goaltender maintains focus to blank Maple Leafs

Devan Dubnyk had plenty of reason for his concentration to wander during the Wild-Toronto game Thursday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

The due date for his and his wife’s second baby was less than 24 hours away, and Toronto limped into town on the heels of a 6-1 loss at Winnipeg Wednesday night, owning a reputation for focusing on defense as well as an unspectacular 8-12-5 record.

Then Minnesota outshot the Maple Leafs 12-8 in a one-sided but scoreless first period.

None of that fazed Dubnyk, who recorded his fourth shutout of the season as the Wild sidestepped the defensive-minded Leafs 1-0 in front of 18,880.

Dubnyk made 28 saves, got help when teammate Mikko Koivu swept a loose puck away from the open side of the net in the third period and happily accepted a thumbs-up ruling for a coach’s challenge that wiped out an apparent goal by Toronto with four minutes remaining.

Nice turn of events, he said with a grin.

“I had no idea. I said to these guys after, ‘It’s the rare one-goal-against shutout.’ You don’t see it too often,” he said.

Dubnyk has exhibited stellar play over his past two games even though his wife is expecting.

Well, he observed with that same grin, the baby seems to be in no hurry and will show up when it’s ready. So the veteran goaltender is choosing to simply clock in for another day at the office, aware that he can scurry to the hospital when it’s necessary.

And his work matches any expectations.

“One goal against,” coach Mike Yeo said. “That’s pretty good in two games.”

Dubnyk is staying in the moment.

“I just tried to relax a little bit and just keep things small,” he explained. “When things aren’t always going your way, you start to slide toward thinking about winning the game and the end result of the game. You get away from just being set and pushing and stopping and having those feet set. You try to do that, and I was able to do that the last couple of games. I felt good.”

This game would have resulted in a major disappointment for the Wild, what with Toronto being a pest all evening, cluttering up the neutral zone and making it difficult for the Wild to generate any offense.

“They clogged it up pretty good,” forward Chris Porter said.

Not a welcome arrangement for a team that had seemingly snapped out of its doldrums with a hard-fought 2-1 triumph over the Blackhawks in Chicago two nights earlier.

However, as Yeo pointed out, a loss to the struggling Leafs would have ushered the Wild right back behind the 8-ball where they resided after winning just one game out of seven before heading to Chicago.

“If we don’t come out here and get a win today,” he said, “then a lot of the same questions and frustrations just come back after a great performance in Chicago.”

The Wild dodged those questions and frustrations by utilizing Dubnyk’s second shutout in five games along with a power-play goal by Matt Dumba.

Dumba uncorked his blast from the left point after a pass from Jared Spurgeon at the 9:24 mark of the second period, giving the Wild their first shot on goal in more than 16 minutes.

“It was perfectly placed by Jared,” Dumba said. “We practice it a lot.”

Three games ago, Yeo challenged Dumba to tighten up his play.

“He’s responded,” Yeo said.

And the Wild have, too, snapping a three-game home losing streak.

Best of all, at least in Dubnyk’s thinking, is they have another home game Saturday night against Colorado before they hit the road to play at Colorado on Monday.

That means Dubnyk will be able to keep his feet firmly planted on Minnesota soil for at least a few more days while he waits for child No. 2.

The post With baby coming, Dubnyk delivers appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

[See image gallery at minnesotahockeymag.com]

The post Gallery: Wild vs. Leafs appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Could win over Leafs be deja vu all over again for Minnesota?

SAINT PAUL – For the second straight season, a struggling Minnesota Wild team opened its calendar year against a team based not far from Niagara Falls. And as was the case 12 months ago, the visitors took the fall.

Goals by Jared Spurgeon and Mikko Koivu 1:55 apart midway through the third period broke a 1-1 tie and lifted the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in front of a nearly bipartisan crowd of 19,168 on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Wild entered 2014 losers of six straight and 13 of 18 — including a 5-4 loss to the Islanders in which Minnesota blew a 3-0 lead over the game’s final 37 minutes — to begin the New Year 20-17-5 for 45 points. After a 15-5-4 start, the calendar-closing collapse had rumors swirling that a Jan. 2 loss to the lowly Buffalo Sabres would spell the end for coach Mike Yeo.

Turn the clock forward exactly one year and the Wild came into Friday’s game against Toronto having lost 11 of 17 and began 2015 with a 17-14-4 record for 38 points, seven less than a year ago. Yet the matchup with the Maple Leafs came without the implied win-or-else ultimatum of that came with the Sabres game last January.

The Wild beat Buffalo 4-1 that day to spark a 23-10-7 finish and qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Minnesota is clinging to the hope that lightning will strike twice as the team’s health steadily improves.

Minnesota began Friday’s third period nursing a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Kyle Brodziak goal, but consecutive penalties to Spurgeon and Ryan Suter early on gave the Leafs a 5-on-3. Toronto was more than happy to take advantage of the advantage and tied the game on Cody Franson’s sixth of the year at the 2:37 mark.

But Spurgeon’s right circle blast from the right circle at 7:23 and Koivu’s wicked power-play one-timer from nearly the same spot at 9:18 sent the Maple Leafs to their sixth loss in eight games.

“I liked how we played after we got the lead,” Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. “We didn’t sit back.”

The key to the win, according to Yeo, was the way Minnesota elevated its game once Franson tied things up, something the team failed to do in a 3-1 New Year’s Eve loss to Columbus.

“Tonight, the talk on the bench, leadership-wise and the way that we finished the [penalty] kill and then went back out afterwards and reclaimed the lead, that’s a big moment,” he said. “There’s been a lot of talk about killer instinct and that’s what you’re looking for.”

The Wild’s Captain, though, pointed to another important factor in the win.

“I thought our defensive effort was huge and that’s our identity too,” Koivu said. “Arguably, we’re a tough team to play against when we’re on top of our game and that’s what we need to do.”

Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper bounced back from the loss to the Blue Jackets with 34 saves to pick up his 13th win of the year. Kuemper, who spent some time away from the game and his recent struggles over the holidays, says he’s feeling good about his game now.

“There was no technical parts that were missing from my game before,” Keumper said. “It’s just more of a mindset so I think I’m in a good place there and the team is playing really good in front of me as well.”

With Leafs netminder Jonathan Bernier (26 saves) looking strong, including a point blank stop on Thomas Vanek just under five minutes into the game,  Kuemper  sknew he had to play well to give his team a chance.

“I saw [Bernier] make a few big saves early and knew it would probably be a little tough to get a few, so I just tried to do my part,” he said.

“When he’s on top of his game it’s not difficult to tell,” Yeo said of Kuemper. “He tracks the play very well and reads the play very well.”

Koivu said patience was important with Bernier playing as well as he was and added Kuemper was a part of that.

“It’s not easy [to be patient] but I thought Kuemps was doing good too so that gives you that confidence too when you know that your goaltender’s on top of his game,” Koivu said. “So you have to be patient and believe that you’re going to get your chances.”

“We’re just playing simple and working hard,” Spurgeon added. “We talked about having a lot of energy and I think we had that tonight.”

The post Another fresh start? appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.