NHL - Wild - Round Up - December 07-15, 2016

Wild @ Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 - Wednesday, December 07, 2016
Devan Dubnyk made 35 saves for the Minnesota Wild in a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Dubnyk made 17 saves in the third period to preserve the win in his 300th NHL start. Eric Staal's first goal since Nov. 10, a span of 13 games, gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead 1:15 into the second period. He received a pass from Charlie Coyle and put a shot past Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen for his sixth of the season and 799th NHL point. The Wild (13-8-4) finished 2-1-2 on a five-game road trip. The Maple Leafs (10-10-5) have lost three straight. Jason Zucker gave the Wild a 1-0 lead 8:42 into the first period. Wild captain Mikko Koivu forced a turnover by Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri behind the net and passed to Mikael Granlund. He tapped the puck to Zucker, who shot past Andersen for his fourth goal. Chris Stewart gave the Wild a 2-0 lead with 5:38 left in the first period when he received a pass from Jared Spurgeon and scored on a breakaway against Andersen for his fourth goal. Maple Leafs forward Ben Smith made it 2-1 at 16:50 when he put a rebound of a Kadri shot past Dubnyk for his second goal. Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak made it 3-2 with 9:06 left in the second period when he skated around Wild defenseman Matt Dumba and put a backhand over Dubnyk's glove.

* Bozak's sixth of the season was unassisted as he got by Dumba and beat Dubnyk.

* Andersen stopped Koivu alone in front 17 seconds before Bozak scored.

* Dubnyk's save against Connor Brown with 1:06 left in the third period helped preserve the win.

* Wild defenseman Nate Prosser played 14:01, least among Minnesota defensemen, but blocked a shot by Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner in the closing seconds.

* The Maple Leafs had 87 shot attempts; the Wild had 41. … Babcock said he expected defenseman Martin Marincin to play, but he wasn't able to because of the flu. … The Wild recalled forward Teemu Pulkkinen on Wednesday, but he was a healthy scratch. … Linesman Steve Miller left the game after being hit by a puck 14 seconds into the third period.

"If [Devan] was in Toronto, there'd be no Carey Price, I'm just saying media-wise. I mean, he hasn't allowed more than three goals in any game he's played this year, he's held us in all the time, and they had 17-3 or something shots in the third period and they didn't get any (goals)."
"I told the guys, 'It may not look it, but my insides are really happy right now.' We held on, I mean, we didn't do anything in the third period, but at the end of an 11-day trip to win in a tough building to win in, it was pretty good." Bruce Boudreau
"That was a good forecheck. Our line, when we're successful, we're spending time in the other team's end using the back of the net, using our bodies and strength, and Charlie did a great job on the forecheck and I was the beneficiary of taking it out to the front."
"It's been a long grind. This is a long trip, we gutted it out; I like that we did. We've got a veteran team and we've got guys that understand what it takes certain nights, and tonight was a certain night where we had to gut it out, and kudos to a lot of guys that stepped up into big spots to make big plays defensively. That's a big win; we go home now feeling good and hopefully start a good stretch at home." Staal said.

 

Edmonton Oilers @ Wild 2-3 SO - Friday, December 09, 2016

Jason Pominville, Chris Stewart and Eric Staal scored in the shootout for the Minnesota Wild in a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at the Xcel Energy Center. Devan Dubnyk stopped four Oilers in the shootout and made 25 saves, improving his career record against Edmonton to 8-1-0. Leon Draisaitl and Jordan Eberle scored for the Oilers in the shootout, which went six rounds.

Defenseman Matt Dumba and forward Jason Zucker scored in regulation for Minnesota (14-8-4). Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for Edmonton (14-11-5) and Cam Talbot made 34 saves. Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 19:04 of first period, shooting a rebound past Dubnyk. Draisaitl played the puck to Benoit Pouliot in the Wild zone, then took a return pass in front of the net. His first shot was stopped by Dubnyk, but Draisaitl converted the rebound.
Dumba scored at 4:26 of the second period, shooting the puck past Talbot from the blue line. Talbot was screened by Pominville standing in front of the net.
Zucker scored to put Minnesota up 2-1 at 1:19 of the third period after Oilers forward Connor McDavid attempted a drop pass to defenseman Oscar Klefbom deep in the Oilers zone. Nugent-Hopkins tied the game 2-2 at 15:21 on the power play with a shot from the point that sailed past Dubnyk. The Wild used a coach's challenge on possible goaltender interference on forward Patrick Maroon, but the goal stood. Minnesota was awarded a power play at 1:09 of overtime after McDavid was assessed a high-sticking penalty but could not convert. Charlie Coyle came close for the Wild, hitting the post on the power play.

* Draisaitl and Pouliot exchanged passes in the Wild zone, which lead to Edmonton's first goal.

* Dubnyk gloved a shot from McDavid, who cut to the net and tried to flip the puck over the goalie at 7:04 of the first period.

* Wild defenseman Marco Scandella chased down Eberle and broke up a scoring opportunity at 7:53 of the third period after his shot was blocked at the Oilers blue line.

* Staal made an excellent move to score the winning goal in the shootout, avoiding a poke check from Talbot and casually sliding the puck into the net.
* McDavid was held without a point for the second time this week by the Wild. He did not have a point in a 2-1 overtime loss against Minnesota in Edmonton on Sunday. … Draisaitl extended his point streak to three games. He has six goals and three assists in his past six games.

"It was pretty tight a lot of the way, they had a good first, I thought our second was better. In the third we made a good push again. Talbot made some good saves in overtime and [Dubnyk] too. To be able to get the two points is big and you feel better about it coming to the rink [Saturday]."
"Wins are wins in this league, every game is close, it's tight and it seems it's 2-1, 3-2 [all the time]. If we can feel comfortable in those matches it's only going to help us more moving forward throughout the season." Staal said.
"I thought today we played above them most of the night. When you're starting to chase [Connor] McDavid and Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins, they're faster guys, then you get in trouble. If you can play above them, you're able to contain them a little bit." Bruce Boudreau said.

Florida Panthers @ Wild 1-5 - Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Five forwards scored, and the Minnesota Wild won their fifth straight game, 5-1 against the Florida Panthers at Xcel Energy Center. Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves. He is 5-0-0 with seven goals allowed in his past five games. Minnesota (16-8-4) is 10-3-0 at home. Dylan McIlrath scored, and Roberto Luongo made 12 saves on 17 shots before he was pulled in the third period. The goal was McIlrath's first with the Panthers. Jason Zucker scored on a breakaway at 8:26 of the third period for a 5-0 lead. Mikko Koivu made it 4-0 at 6:04. Erik Haula scored on a rebound at 4:11 of the second period for a 2-0 lead, and Eric Staal made it 3-0 at 9:46. Zach Parise scored his first goal since Nov. 25 to make it 1-0 at 11:19 of the first period. A goal by Florida forward Kyle Rau at 8:39 of the second period was overturned after a coach's challenge. The review determined the play was offside. James Reimer replaced Luongo at 8:26 of the third period and made five saves. McIlrath scored at 15:36. Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr did not have a point and remains four behind Mark Messier for second in NHL history (1,187-1,183). Wayne Gretzky is first with 2,857.

* Jason Pominville passed to Staal on a breakaway. Luongo stopped the first shot but Staal scored on the rebound.

* Luongo skated out of the crease at 7:13 of the second period to deny a 2-on-1. Parise, who had a wide open net, shot but Luongo made the save with his stick. 

* Wild defenseman Christian Folin bailed out Dubnyk at 4:58 of the third period with a poke-check to stop a potential goal by Rau. Folin added three hits and three blocked shots in his first game back after missing the past seven games with a knee injury. 

* Zucker received a pass from Matt Dumba to lead the breakaway. Switching to his backhand he sent it top-shelf for the five-goal lead.
* Panthers forward Jonathan Marchessault had an assist in his return after missing five games with a lower-body injury. … Wild forward Nino Niederreiter assisted on Haula's goal and has 10 points in 11 games. … Wild forward Mikael Granlund assisted on Koivu's goal and has a season-high four-game point streak.

 

"It's a long season, so you need some nights some other guys stepping up and the next night some other guys. If you look around the League, all the good teams, they have that depth. Now that we're healthy, you can really see that. All lines were going." Mikko Koivu
"I loved the fact that we can spread it out and get five goals amongst three lines. You'd like it to be four lines. You can't have everything." Bruce Boudreau said.

"We need to keep climbing. It's exciting to be in this spot with games at hand as well, and again, those games don't matter unless we win them, but it's still a good situation to be in. Dubnyk said.
"Winning is fun, so you just gotta keep doing it. I tried to shoot the puck a little more and get to the net a little more lately. I've had better chances. They haven't gone in. Fortunately, that one went in for me." Parise said.

Wild @ Nashville Predators 5-2 - Thursday, December 15, 2016
Eric Staal scored two goals in a 5-2 win for the Minnesota Wild against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. The Wild (17-8-4) extended their winning streak to six and goaltender Devan Dubnyk improved to 8-0-2 in his past 10 games. He finished with 34 saves. The Predators (13-12-4) dropped to 10-3-2 at home. Jonas Brodin gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 10:20 of the first period on the power play on a wrist shot from the slot. He got the shot through traffic past Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne for his third goal. Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis tied the game at 1-1 at 12:04 on a shot from above the right faceoff circle. Forward Colin Wilson made the pass to Ellis, who beat Dubnyk for his fourth goal.

Charlie Coyle gave the Wild a 2-1 lead at 18:37 on a rebound. Forward Nino Niederreiter took the original shot, and Coyle, playing in his 300th NHL game, shot the rebound past Rinne for his 10th goal. Staal made it 3-1 29 seconds later. Niederreiter won a battle for the puck behind the net, passed to Staal alone in the slot and he beat Rinne for his eighth goal. Predators forward Mike Fisher made it 3-2 at 8:55 of the second period on the power play. Forward James Neal sent a pass to Fisher, who one-timed the shot from the crease for his eighth goal. Staal (19:04) and Mikael Granlund (19:39) scored empty-net goals.

* Brodin's goal came from the slot as Rinne was being screened in front. Brodin shot the puck through traffic and beat Rinne high on the glove side. 

* Dubnyk made a save on Predators forward Ryan Johansen during a power play in the third period to preserve a 3-2 lead. Johansen connected on a one-timer from the left faceoff circle, and Dubnyk got across the crease and made a blocker save.

* Niederreiter assisted on two goals in the first period, including Staal's first goal that gave the Wild a 3-1 lead. He beat two defenders to the puck and pushed the pass by them to set up Staal.

* Coyle's goal came as a result of him driving to the net and getting to a rebound before Rinne could react.
* Dubnyk has given up two goals or fewer in 19 of 24 starts this season, including in each of his past seven games. … Fisher has three goals in his past two games and has scored six of his eight goals this season at home.

"We just want to continue to build our game," Dubnyk said. "It's not just one game because we play again in a day and a half so we're just trying to build on what things we're doing well and continue to roll."

"[Rinne] is a stud back there," Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. "He's a very good goaltender so just put a lot of traffic, a lot of pucks at him. We were able to get some early, which really helped us." 

"We're just trying to keep this going," Staal said. "You never want to give anyone anything back. We had a good first period and really set the tone, and I think from there maybe not as sharp, but you've got to find ways to win. It wasn't the prettiest tonight, but we've got a solid team and a great goalie right now."
"They're not all Picasso's, right? The two points was very important, and to come out of there with that win, it probably frustrated them a little bit. We weren't at our best, but our goalie was." - Wild coach Bruce Boudreau