Spurgeon injured as Wild lose fifth straight
Things have not been going well for Minnesota’s NHL team lately. In fact, its string of bad luck has been downright “wild.”
All kidding aside, things went from bad to worse for the Wild on Saturday. They lost defenseman Jared Spurgeon early in their game in St. Louis, which the Blues went on to win 4–1.
Spurgeon was high-sticked by Blues captain David Backes, forcing Minnesota to play the rest of the game with five defensemen. Although the high-stick was the impetus for Spurgeon’s early exit, it appears as if whatever kept him from the game was due to an unrelated incident.
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The Wild’s loss of Spurgeon couldn’t have come at a worse time. They already announced earlier on Saturday that mainstay defenseman Jonas Brodin will miss the next three to six weeks with a broken foot.
Spurgeon’s early exit, coupled with Brodin being placed on injured reserve, forced Minnesota to run Ryan Suter out on the ice for 33:08 in its loss to St. Louis— the team’s fifth straight defeat and 10th in its last 11 games.
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The Wild’s slump has dropped the team to sixth place in the Central Division, three points behind the Nashville Predators for the Western Conference’s final wild-card spot.