Wild rally for 5-3 win vs. Predators after Jared Spurgeon exits with injury

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Dec 31, 2024

Published in Hockey

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Wild power play was finally the catalyst for a win instead of contributing to another loss.

After a 0-for-15 drought, the Wild scored three times — including during a match penalty for a slew-foot against captain Jared Spurgeon — to get by the Predators, 5-3, Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center for a subdued victory due to Spurgeon’s gruesome-looking injury.

While the Wild trailed Nashville 2-1 early in the second period, Spurgeon crashed feet-first into the boards after getting slew-footed by Predators rookie Zachary L’Heureux.

Spurgeon’s right leg bent awkwardly during the high-speed collision, and he was helped off the ice with his right skate lifted. The defenseman did not return.

Already, the Wild are without fellow defender Jake Middleton, winger Jakub Lauko and leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, who missed a third straight game with a lower-body injury; Kaprizov hasn’t resumed skating.

L’Heureux was assessed a five-minute match penalty and during the ensuing power play, the Wild netted the equalizer when Joel Eriksson Ek found Mats Zuccarello for a net-front redirect at 6 minutes, 19 seconds.

Goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who had a season-high 43 saves, picked up an assist on Zuccarello’s goal, the third of his career after his long outlet pass to Eriksson Ek. This was the power play’s first goal since the 6-1 drubbing by the Panthers on Dec. 18 and only second tally over its last 22 chances.

Jonas Brodin broke the 2-2 tie at 8:57 on a point shot that sailed by Nashville goalie Justus Annunen, who was screened by Ryan Hartman, for his second goal in three games, but the Predators retaliated by 12:01 when Ryan O’Reilly put back a rebound in front.

Cue the power play.

With 2:52 left in the second, Declan Chisholm connected on a slapshot during a rare second-unit goal.

Chisholm, who had an assist in each of his previous two games, is on a career-long, three-game point streak.

Then 7:07 into the third period, the power play capitalized again after Marco Rossi swiped in a Brock Faber rebound that sat in the crease for Rossi’s second goal of the night.

(Later, Faber saved a goal by clearing the puck out of the crease late in the third after a shot squeaked behind Gustavsson while Nashville was in desperation mode.)

Rossi’s three points — he also factored into Brodin’s goal — tied his career high for the second time this season.

Eriksson Ek, in his second game back from a lengthy injury hiatus, finished with two assists, while Zuccarello and Brodin had two points apiece from a goal and an assist.

As impressive as the power play’s 3-for-6 breakout was, the three goals a season best, the penalty kill did its part, too, against the Predators.

Nashville had its lone look late in the second and early in the third, and the Wild surrendered just one shot, a one-timer to Steven Stamkos that Gustavsson denied. Annunen had 33 stops for the Predators, who were behind first after Rossi deflected in a Zuccarello shot 7:54 into the first period.

Rossi’s 14 goals are second on the team to only Kaprizov’s 23, and Rossi is just seven away from matching the 21 the center posted last season.

At 11 minutes of the first, Nashville responded when Colton Sissons tipped in a shot from Brady Skjei after the first of two costly turnovers by the Wild’s Yakov Trenin.

His second giveaway, an errant drop pass in the Wild’s zone that landed right on Stamkos’ stick, was fed to Jonathan Marchessault for a backdoor one-timer at 15:14.

But the Wild made up for those self-inflicted mistakes in the second, despite being shorthanded, for their third victory in their last four games ahead of a two-game road trip to Washington and Carolina.