ST. PAUL, Minn. — It had been 15 games since Jared Spurgeon and Jake Middleton had been on the ice for a five-on-five goal against before the first period of Saturday’s shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
“You jinxed us,” the Wild captain said, laughing, after Monday’s practice — a reference to Tweet earlier that day about the 220-plus minutes of five-on-five ice time from Spurgeon and 200-plus from Middleton since the last time it had happened, on Oct. 28. “We’ll just have to start a new streak.”
Spurgeon, the Wild’s all-time leader in virtually every statistical category for defensemen, may have turned 36 years old Saturday and might be in his 16th season, but it feels like he’s turned the clock back during an 11-1-2 month of November heading into his 37th career game against his hometown Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at the arena where he registered his only career hat trick in Feb. 2020.
After going minus-12 in his first 12 games of the season, Spurgeon was plus-8 with the Wild outscoring opponents 9-0 with him on the ice at five-on-five until being, uh, cursed against the Sabres.
The string of elite play of Spurgeon, which happened to coincide with being paired again with his old partner, Middleton, came after Spurgeon held a players-only meeting that many credit with helping turn the season around.
In other words, the captain has put his money where his mouth was.
“Has nothing to do with me,” said Spurgeon, always humble when it comes to his game. “This has to do with the team. The start of the year, we were all doing too much to get out of the rut. But the team’s been playing great. Everyone’s contributing to that, and that makes everybody look better.
“That’s me included.”
Asked if he’s especially gratified to be playing this way at this age, Spurgeon, who underwent season-ending hip and back surgery two years ago, said, “Yeah, but we’re very lucky to have this as our job, and we have a lot of young guys in here that keep you feeling young. The youth and group of guys we have make you enjoy and look forward to coming to the rink every day.”
Spurgeon is a big reason for that. The captain takes care of everybody around him, like Thanksgiving, when he and his wife, Danielle, hosted 26 teammates and significant others, plus nearly a dozen kids.
“It was such a good time,” goalie Jesper Wallstedt said. “It was pretty early, so we could have an early night because we had (the Colorado Avalanche) game the next day, but spending the day having lunch together, it’s always fun to get away from the rink, spend time with each other and get to know the persons a little bit more. I think Spurge is great at that. Every time I’ve been up here, called up in the past, he’s always very inviting. He makes sure everyone feels like it’s more of a family environment and everyone knows each other. I hope fans see it because it’s very important for our group.”
And on the ice, Wallstedt said, “He’s very good in our D-zone. He does the dirty job in our zone. Maybe that’s the stuff that you don’t always see, but for us goalies, we notice them. We appreciate it.”
Spurgeon’s rank in Wild history among defensemen
CategoryNumberRank
Games
959
1
Goals
118
1
Assists
302
2
Points
420
1
Plus-Minus
+121
1*
Power-play goals
35
1
Power-play points
135
2
Game-winning goals
23
1
Overtime goals
5
T-2
Shots
1,568
1
Hits
829
1
Blocked shots
1,655
1*
Time on ice
21,172:40
1*
* First among all players in team history
The month of October was hard on Spurgeon as he was eating minuses. He admits he went home angry a lot after games but said, “I knew eventually with the team we had and the trust we have in each other that it was going to turn around. Eventually, it started going the other way, and right now, I can say it’s just awesome to be a part of and we have to keep it going.”
John Hynes feels this is the best Spurgeon has played in the coach’s tenure in Minnesota. He said Spurgeon is simply playing an efficient game.
“His ability to break pucks out and just transition the puck has been really smooth and quick,” Hynes said. “He just sees the option and hits it. I’d say from a defensive standpoint, he’s been really good on his rush defense and his gaps and coming into D-zone coverage and D zone. We had a video (last week) about some of the D-zone coverage, and just the amount of times that he’s either blocked shots or he’s boxing out at the net front against bigger guys, his details are flawless.”
Spurgeon is in the sixth year of a seven-year deal, so he cherishes all these late-career trips to Edmonton. His older brother, Tyler, still plays overseas, but his parents and sister, as well as Danielle’s parents and several other family members and friends, will be at the game.
“It’s always fun to go back home and play in front of family and friends that don’t always have the opportunity to come here,” Spurgeon said. “You do know it’s coming closer to the (end of my career), so you want to take it in. I’m excited to go home, see family tonight and go for dinner and stuff like that, catch up, and then just game day as usual.”
The Wild haven’t played since Saturday, which is a rarity during this season’s condensed schedule due to the Olympics.
“To be able to have two days, especially here at home, without travel before traveling is nice to get sort of a mental reset, as much as a body reset,” Spurgeon said.
Goalie rotation continues
For the 11th consecutive game, the Wild will rotate goalies, giving Oilers fans a chance to finally see what all the fuss is about with the one who got away, Tuesday’s anticipated starter Wallstedt.
In 2021, the Oilers traded the 20th pick in the draft to the Wild for the 22nd pick and a third-rounder. They took center Xavier Bourgault at No. 22 pick. He has since been traded to the Ottawa Senators and hasn’t played an NHL game. With the 90th pick, Edmonton took University of Vermont defenseman Luca Münzenberger. The Oilers didn’t sign him, and he’s back playing in Germany.
That’s why fans of the Oilers, whose goaltending woes are well-documented, get so worked up on social media every time Wallstedt does anything good, which has happened a lot this season. Wallstedt has recorded points in each of his nine starts (7-0-2) and went 6-0 in November with 1.14 goals-against average, .967 save percentage and three shutouts.
https://t.co/ka7f557abS pic.twitter.com/FlvsIzPiti
— dyln (@oilcuntree) December 1, 2025
A real “look at what you could have had” moment https://t.co/HZYLOME59T
— Brock Seguin (@Brock_Seguin) December 1, 2025
Time to show the world why we passed on this guy, took the FAR SUPERIOR Xavier Bourgault and expose this fraud for the block of Swiss Cheese that he is. 🇨🇭🧀
(Yes, I’m being facetious 🤣🤣🤣)#LetsGoOilers https://t.co/d39wE2nMUN
— Russ Jericho (@RussJerichoArt) December 1, 2025
“Yeah, I see it online,” Wallstedt said. “Now, this year, they apparently miss that pick or wish they had me. For that reason, it’s pretty fun. But it’s not like it matters anymore. I’m very happy where I am.”
Swedish Goaltending Mafia https://t.co/gYmzH6nq1w pic.twitter.com/IgR8xHXjKq
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 1, 2025
Wallstedt’s looking forward to his first start against the Oilers despite the star power of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup Final. In his last start, he was up to the task against Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, stopping both back-to-back in a shootout.
“I haven’t played them,” he said. “I’ve only seen them a lot of times on TV and social media, so very excited. It’s going to be probably a good test for us.”
Rossi not on trip, Yurov hurt
Center Marco Rossi, who has missed eight games with a lower-body injury, skated for the first time on his own since leaving the lineup last month with an injury that originally occurred Oct. 18 in Philadelphia. The Athletic watched the extremely brief skate, and he clearly left the ice disappointed.
Asked how it went, Rossi said, “So-so.”
The hope, at least from the Wild with off days between each game of the four-game trip, is that if Rossi can progress, he could join the Wild at some point on the road trip.
He’s needed, especially with Danila Yurov now day-to-day with an injury originally sustained three games ago in Chicago. Yurov was expected to accompany the team on the trip, but Hynes said he won’t play Tuesday.
Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello
Johansson-Eriksson Ek-Boldy
Trenin-Sturm-Tarasenko
Ohgren-Jones-Pitlick
Haight
Brodin-Faber
Hunt-Spurgeon
Buium-Bogosian
Middleton and Yurov not practicing
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 1, 2025
The Wild recalled Hunter Haight as an extra forward for the trip. Right wing Tyler Pitlick cleared waivers Monday, but instead of being reassigned to AHL Iowa, he is on the trip and is expected to play in Edmonton. In essence, the Wild reset his waiver clock, so he won’t require waivers again to be sent to Iowa for the next 10 games or 30 days.
Middleton missed practice Monday, but Hynes said that it was maintenance and that he’s expected to play in Edmonton.
Not a waste for Haight
Haight, 21, was recalled for the second time since Nov. 19, but it’s likely he’ll be scratched for the fifth time since the original callup Tuesday night as Hynes goes with Ben Jones and Pitlick on the fourth line.
There’s always a belief when young prospects are scratched and not playing that it’s a waste, but there’s value in young players traveling with NHL teams, seeing how NHL players conduct themselves and practicing with players and coaches, even if they’re not playing.
“He hasn’t had a lot of stints up here, so for him to be around, they learn a lot,” Hynes said. “Obviously, as a young guy, you want to make sure it’s not too long, whether that’s not playing here or going back to Iowa.”
As the 13th forward as long as Yurov is hurt, Haight is one injury away from playing, so there’s a chance we see him on the road trip. He played his first two NHL games in the first two games of the season. He has scored four goals and five points in 14 games for Iowa after a 20-goal rookie year.
