Jared Spurgeon said all the right things.
The grin gave away his true feelings, however.
A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Spurgeon fired a power-play blast through a screen set in front of Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to score his first NHL goal in the third period of the Wild’s 4-1 victory over the Oilers on Tuesday night at the Xcel Energy Center.
“I was just happy we scored there. It was 2-1 and it was a big goal for our team,” he said. “We had a couple of chances before that, so I was just happy to see it go in.”
Center Kyle Brodziak, standing in front of Khabibulin, lifted his leg to allow the puck to go under it and into the net. Spurgeon, 21, was playing in his 31st game and on a similar previous shot the puck deflected in off teammate Chuck Kobasew.
Asked if he wondered if this goal went in off Brodziak, Spurgeon shook his head.
“I didn’t really care,” he said. “A goal’s a goal for the team.”
The more he talked, however, the more it became evident that Spurgeon was thrilled that his family back home was able to watch the game on TV and that his first goal came against the team whose jerseys he grew up wearing.
“They seemed to move to the back of the closet now,” he said of those jerseys.
He admitted that getting the first goal was “a dream come true. When I was growing up, I dreamed of scoring for the Oilers because that’s the team I sort of idolized. But it’s nice to get it against ’em.”
Koivu disappointed: With the Wild in the thick of a playoff race, injured center Mikko Koivu talked Tuesday about being “obviously frustrated” because of the bad timing of the broken finger that has sidelined him for three weeks or more.
“We’re right in the middle and things are going good,” the Wild captain said in his first public comments on the injury since he broke the index finger of his left hand blocking a shot Friday night in a game against the Anaheim Ducks. “Everybody’s having fun and playing hard for each other, so the timing is probably the worst it can be. That’s what makes it tough.”
Koivu declined to predict when he might be able to return to the lineup, saying he plans to keep working out and will play again when he’s able to grip a stick, shoot the puck and line up for faceoffs.
“I can’t give you a date right now,” he said. “I’ll be back before the regular season ends, and as soon as possible.”
Koivu saw a hand specialist Monday and said he felt confident going into his appointment he would not need surgery on the finger because of preliminary exams, “but he was the guy who made the call.”
When he was hit by a shot Friday night, he knew immediately it was not good.
“The whole finger was numb,” Koivu said.
Briefly: Wild players wore military-style camouflage jerseys for their pregame skate. The jerseys will be signed and auctioned off online beginning today at wild.com with proceeds going to Defending the Blue Line, a charity created by Minnesota National Guard members.
