Wild captain Jared Spurgeon wasn't suspended from the first-round series against the Blues, but his crosscheck late in Game 1 on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center did receive extra punishment from the NHL.
Wild's Jared Spurgeon fined $5,000, says he's 'not very happy with myself' about penalty
The illegal hit to an opponent's ankles was unusual for Spurgeon, who was runner-up last season for the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy that recognizes sportsmanship.
May 4, 2022 at 12:15PM
Spurgeon was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, for hitting his stick against the back of St. Louis winger Pavel Buchnevich's leg with 2 minutes, 53 seconds to go in the 4-0 loss to the Blues. At the time, Spurgeon was penalized two minutes for crosschecking. Buchnevich participated in the ensuing power play.
"Honestly, it's not something I'm really proud of, something I don't usually do," Spurgeon said Tuesday during a video call with reporters. "Just got a little frustrated and just happy he's all right.
"That was something that I usually don't do. That's not the player I am. Not very happy with myself to say the least."
This reaction was unusual for Spurgeon; he has the fewest penalty minutes among defensemen that have played in at least 600 games since entering the NHL in 2010-11, and the 32-year-old veteran was runner-up last season for the Lady Byng Trophy that recognizes sportsmanship with a high level of playing ability.
"I don't think he is that type of player," Blues center Brayden Schenn said. "I think it's maybe in the moment where he is frustrated and tried to take a shot at him. Good thing is Buchy is OK."
The incident was also emblematic of how out of sorts the Wild was, with the team occasionally losing its composure while falling behind in the best-of-seven matchup against St. Louis.
"When Jared Spurgeon does something like that, that means your group is off-kilter a little bit," coach Dean Evason said. "So, they'll rein it back in, and he'll be the guy to do it."
One vs. one
The Wild faced only its second penalty shot ever in the playoffs less than four minutes into Game 4 after defenseman Jonas Brodin was called for hooking Blues center Ivan Barbashev during a shorthanded breakaway.
"A penalty shot in that situation, it was a bit of a surprise," said Evason, who thought Brodin made stick-on-stick contact.
This was the first penalty shot against goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in his 163-game postseason career, and the goalie made the stop.
"It was a good way to get into the game early on if you make the save," Fleury said.
Niklas Backstrom saved the other attempt vs. the Wild from Colorado's Ryan Smyth on April 9, 2008.
Perfect debut
St. Louis sat a Stanley Cup champion in Jordan Binnington on the bench to start goaltender Ville Husso in Game 1, and the 27-year-old capitalized on the opportunity.
After an impressive 25-7-6 regular season, Husso picked up a 37-save shutout in his first playoff game.
"Even from four years ago, when he was a Black Ace, I just saw how hard he worked, how passionate he is for the game and you're happy for guys that earn everything they have and he's certainly done that," said Blues teammate David Perron, who provided the bulk of the team's offense with a hat trick and an assist. "The improvement he made over the summer, too, coming in and being ready whenever his name was going to be called upon, learning the league last year a little bit, too.
"We're extremely proud of him. We want him to keep going, and it's good to get the first one of out of the way, for his nerves and all that."
For the Wild, four points behind the league-leading Jets, this will be their most anticipated matchup against a division rival since they lost 2-1 to the Stars on Nov. 16.
