Jared Spurgeon's return comes as Wild try to get back on course

Wild captain Jared Spurgeon made his season debut on Friday night, and the game left a mark on him.

Literally.

Spurgeon picked up a fat lip, the aftermath of absorbing a high stick from Buffalo's Casey Mittelstadt.

"Right back into it," he said. "Modeling career's over."

But the defenseman also left a mark on the game.

In his first action in more than a month, Spurgeon made a smooth return to the Wild lineup in a 3-2 loss to the Sabres on Friday. He played with his tried-and-true poise that should support the team's quest for consistency restarting Sunday vs. Dallas at Xcel Energy Center before the Wild travel to Sweden for the NHL Global Series.

"He was great in every aspect. He hits the post at the end," said coach Dean Evason, referring to a close call in the final seconds that nearly tied the game. "He and us didn't get rewarded for that, but he did exactly what Jared Spurgeon does."

Despite being sidelined the first 13 games with an upper-body injury suffered in the preseason, Spurgeon skated like he wasn't coming off a lengthy hiatus.

His 21 minutes, 52 seconds of ice time trailed only Jonas Brodin (23:31) on the Wild, and Spurgeon had five attempts at the net while making two hits and blocking three Buffalo shots; only Brodin had more on the team with four. Spurgeon also appeared in every situation for the Wild, joining the power play and killing penalties aside from his regular shifts alongside Jake Middleton.

"He's a great defender and our captain, and [he] just brings that calm," Joel Eriksson Ek said.

That steadiness is what the Wild have lacked in their own zone, the team giving up four or more goals nine times while Spurgeon was on the mend.

Hurt Oct. 5 vs. Chicago after getting pushed into the boards during the Wild's second-to-last preseason game, Spurgeon ended up going on long-term injured reserve to give the team some salary cap flexibility.

"It was definitely frustrating," he said of the injury, "but good to be back."

Spurgeon's addition, coupled with the arrival of Zach Bogosian in a trade with Tampa Bay on Wednesday, ups the Wild's experience on the blue line and although the team finished its New York road trip with consecutive losses, the performance by the defense wasn't as porous as earlier in the season.

Perhaps the more reps this revised unit gets, the more stability it can provide to help even out the Wild's game; this 0-2 dip comes on the heels of the Wild winning two in a row for the first time.

"We're a pretty smart group, veteran group, in here that realizes what we need to change," Spurgeon said, "and what needs to be done going forward."