Resilience is Key | Wild Wednesday

 
 

As we have officially reached the halfway point of the NHL season, the Minnesota Wild (26-11-4) are still one of the most dominant teams in the league. Tuesday night’s 6-4 win over the Blues marked the fourth straight win for the Wild and they currently sit in second place of the Central division, two points behind the Winnipeg Jets (28-12-2) with a game in hand. If there is one thing the Wild have proven, it is how resilient they are despite all the adversity they have faced this season. This team just keeps finding a way to win.  

Spurgeon Can’t Catch a Break 

During last week’s game against Nashville, Spurgeon avoided serious injury after a slew-foot by Predators rookie Zach L’Heureux in the second period.  

At first it looked like it could have been a season-ending injury for Spurgeon as he left the arena in a boot and on crutches, but the team announced on Thursday that he is expected to only miss two to three weeks.  

L’Heureux was assigned a game misconduct and had a hearing over the phone with the Department of Player Safety on Thursday where he received a three-game suspension and is not eligible to return until Jan. 11. 

While this is L’Heureux’s first NHL suspension, he was suspended nine times while playing juniors in the QMJHL and twice in just one season in the AHL, according to ESPN.  

One of those suspensions include an incident where he attempted to spear opposing fans multiple times through a pane of glass when exiting the ice after a Halifax Mooseheads game in February of 2023.  

While no one was injured, L’Heureux did strike a 16-year-old in the chest after a verbal altercation, which resulted in the QMJHL suspending him for ten games.  

Luckily for L’Heureux, these previous suspensions could not be taken into consideration during the hearing since they did not occur in the NHL. If they had, this would have been a much lengthier suspension.  

Road-Dominating 

The Wild are 15-3-3 on the road, which is the best in the league. Their last three road games were arguably their most impressive yet where they beat the Stars 3-2 in overtime, the Capitals 4-3 in a shootout on Thursday and the Hurricanes 4-0 on Saturday.  

All of this has been without their star Kirill Kaprizov who has been listed as day-to-day for weeks now. It sounds like he is dealing with soreness in his groin and possibly his oblique as well, but there is no need to rush him back when the team continues to win. The Wild are 5-1 since he has been out of the lineup and it has made players like Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello step up during his absence. 

Rossi is playing some of the best hockey of his career and he was named the NHL’s number one star of the week with three goals and five assists in three games last week. He tallied four assists in Saturday’s game against Carolina, which was a career high for him.  

Granted, if it were the playoffs, Kaprizov would certainly be playing through this, but there is no need to rush his return until he is fully healthy when the team continues to be successful. 

Blues Are Feeling Blue 

While Tuesday night’s game was an incredible win for the Wild, it was quite an embarrassing loss for St. Louis. The Wild took a quick two-goal lead in the first period with goals from Zach Bogosian and Jon Merrill, but the momentum quickly shifted as the Blues went on to score four unanswered goals. Gustavsson was pulled after he let in the fourth goal off of 18 shots and Fleury came in where he would stop all 15 shots he faced.  

It was not until halfway through the second period that the Wild began to take back control when Joel Eriksson Ek was able to sneak one past Binnington’s legs to bring the score to 4-3. The Wild went on to score three more goals, meaning both teams scored four unanswered goals in this game. 

While it was an exciting game and Jake Middleton’s first game back after missing 11 games with a broken finger, the Wild took another hit when they lost Brock Faber to an upper-body injury halfway through the first period. Looking at the replays, it is unclear what play actually injured Faber, but after a puck battle with Pavel Buchnevich in the corner, he skated slowly back to the bench and straight down the tunnel.  

A new video surfaced today of Jake Neighbours elbowing Faber in the head 37 seconds into the first period, which could also be the cause of the injury, but it is unknown since he played a few shifts after. 

Faber has not missed one game in parts of three seasons with the Wild. According to Michael Russo, that is 125 consecutive games for Faber, including when he played with fractured ribs for two months last season.  

There is no update on Faber at this time, but with Spurgeon also hurt, a window opens for David Jiricek to potentially play his first game with the Wild. Jiricek was recalled under emergency conditions yesterday and can be converted to regular recall if Faber is unable to play or if there are other injuries/ illnesses.  

Looking Ahead 

The Wild now face the Colorado Avalanche at home tonight, the Sharks in San Jose on Saturday and the Knights in Vegas on Sunday. The one advantage the Wild will have heading into the game tonight is that Colorado will be on a back-to-back since we know home-ice is hardly an advantage for the Wild. They are 11-8-1 at home this season, so improving their home play is still the Wild’s biggest concern because they have already proven they can play through all sorts of adversity.  


Kelly Rivard

Kelly is a Minnesota native and a proud Gopher alumna who enjoys making people laugh and spending time with family. Her skills include going 5/6 on parlays, managing multiple incredibly great (fantasy) sports teams and throwing 30 mph fastballs. When she’s not at the X, Target Field or US Bank Stadium cheering on her favorite teams, you can find her pouring drinks for customers at her hometown pub. 

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