Wild’s Spurgeon Hero Again in OT Win Over the Predators

The Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators met on Saturday evening, Nov. 30, to officially end the month. The Wild’s lineup remained the same as their previous afternoon match-up against the Chicago Blackhawks, except Filip Gustavsson took over in net. 

Both teams also made trades before game time, with the Predators sending goaltender Scott Wedgewood to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for goaltender Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. The Wild traded defenseman Daemon Hunt, a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft with the top five protected, a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for David Jiricek and a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. 

It was a busy day for both teams, which continued when they hit the ice. Their play was tight from the beginning, and it took overtime for them to declare a winner. The Wild took the 3-2 win on a goal by their captain, Jared Spurgeon, and moved their record to 16-4-4, while the Predators fell to 7-13-5. 

Game Recap 

The game started out physically, with the scoring coming at the end of the period. The Wild got on the board first with a big shot from defenseman Declan Chisholm that went untipped past goaltender Juuse Saros with just over a minute left. The Wild seemed to be in control, but the Predators answered right back under a minute later with a goal by Fedor Svechkov, who was all alone next to the net waiting for the shot and tied it up. 

The Predators came out in the second and took their first lead on a power play goal by Ryan O’Reilly, who tipped in a shot from Steven Stamkos to go up 2-1. The Wild found their scoring again a little later in the period, also on the power play, as Kirill Kaprizov tipped a shot from Marco Rossi to tie the game at two. 

Despite many chances for both sides, neither scored in the third, and overtime was required to decide the winner. The Wild took only 58 seconds to find the back of the net, and an impressive play by Kaprizov to set up their captain Spurgeon, whose goal won the game for the second game in a row. 

The Wild will have the next two days off before they play again at home on Tuesday night, Dec. 3, when they host the Vancouver Canucks. The Predators will have a few days off but remain on the road as they head north to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, Dec. 4