What’s been particularly encouraging for the Wild is how Spurgeon has been able to stay in action since a six-game absence in October as he continued to heal from season-ending hip and back surgeries.
“You go through camp and everything’s just fine, and then just out of nowhere,” he said. “So, it was in the back of the mind, but now I’m just trying to go with it every day, day by day, and not really think about it.”
Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin were one of the stingiest pairings in the NHL before Brodin was sidelined recently with an upper-body injury.
Brodin still is being evaluated but won’t play Saturday vs. the Predators; neither will Jakub Lauko, who is out because of a lower-body injury. The Wild, however, did get Marat Khusnutdinov back Friday after he sat out three games with a lower-body injury.
Still, Spurgeon and Declan Chisholm have formed an effective duo the past few games, with Spurgeon’s reliability shining through — between the boards and away from the rink.
“Just having him around, having his leadership presence, it’s a night-and-day different feel as a group of guys,” fellow defenseman Brock Faber said. “Obviously, he’s the leader of that. His off-ice characteristics and on-ice are just helping us a whole lot.”