Philadelphia Flyers @ Winnipeg 3-0
The Flyers could be facing some goaltending choices after Michal Neuvirth made 28 saves to shut out the Jets 3-0 at MTS Centre. With Flyers goalie Steve Mason recovering from an illness, Neuvirth made his third consecutive start and earned his League-leading third shutout. The Flyers had not allowed fewer than two goals in a game since Oct. 14 against the Dallas Stars. Neuvirth's .945 save percentage ties him with Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers for the League lead; his 1.81 goals-against average ranks fourth. The Flyers scored two power-play goals; they ranked 29th in the NHL entering the game and were 0-for-16 through their past seven games. They had five power-play chances, their second-most in a game, and took advantage. Brayden Schenn had a first-period power-play goal for Philadelphia before Wayne Simmonds scored one in the third period. Matt Read scored an empty-net goal with 1:35 remaining, and Claude Giroux had two assists. Philadelphia had allowed 34.3 shots per game and an average of 37.3 in the first four games of the road trip. Winnipeg's 28 shots were the fewest Philadelphia allowed in a game this season.
Winnipeg returned home after a 2-1-1 road trip for its one game here in a nine-game stretch. The Jets begin a four-game Central Division road trip next week; 10 of the Jets' 14 games in November are on the road. The Jets, who started the game sixth in the NHL averaging 3.0 goals per game, were shut out for the first time. Ondrej Pavelec made 19 saves. Alexander Burmistrov took an offensive-zone tripping penalty that helped set up Philadelphia's first goal 36 seconds later. Schenn stationed himself in the left circle, where he one-timed his fifth goal past Pavelec at 5:54 to end a five-game drought. Simmonds made it 2-0 with 9:44 left in the game when he jabbed a rebound past Pavelec for his second goal of the season. That ended a seven-game drought. Winnipeg has power-play issues of its own and went 0-for-5 against a Philadelphia penalty kill that ranked 27th on the road. The Jets have not scored in their past 13 power-play opportunities.
Paul Maurice: "It's hard to tell how hot [Neuvirth] was. We just didn't execute offensively. What we did with the puck, we just weren't really sharp with it. We had a hard time handling it, getting it off. We put a lot [of shots] into his glove early. We just couldn't get a lot of pucks to the net."
Mathieu Perreault: "We couldn't really generate anything on the power play, and that kind of killed the momentum for us. We're definitely going to have to find something better on the power play."
Drew Stafford: "It's huge. You look at our division and how tight it is, these games are huge points. You have to take advantage. If you can try to gain ground outside of the [Western Conference] that helps. But if you can get the job done within your division, that's the most important part. We're going to take [Sunday] to regroup and get ready for a big road trip."
Tampa Bay Lightning @ Minnesota 0-1
Devan Dubnyk looked like his old self against the Lightning at Xcel Energy Center. Dubnyk stopped all 31 shots he faced, leading the Wild to a 1-0 win.
After a mid-January trade brought him to Minnesota from the Coyotes, Dubnyk finished went 27-9-2 with a 1.78 goals-against average and a save percentage of .936, leading the Wild into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Wild rewarded Dubnyk during the summer with a six-year contract, but he hasn't had the same success in the first month of this season. Prior to shutting out the Lightning, Dubnyk's save percentage was 40 points lower and his goals-against average almost a full goal higher than his numbers with Minnesota last season. But Saturday was a different story; he made Jared Spurgeon's goal early in the second period stand up. Dubnyk looked aggressive from the start and was attacking pucks early, making 13 saves in the first period. Minnesota was playing without Zach Parise, who sprained his right MCL against the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Without one of their top scorers, the Wild needed Dubnyk at his best, and that's what they got. It was another night of frustration for Tampa Bay. The Lightning, the NHL's highest-scoring team last season, have lost six of their past eight games, scoring a total of three goals in the six losses. They've been shut out three times during that span. Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop made 24 saves. His teammates have scored three goals in his past five starts. Tampa Bay had plenty of chances early, including a rocket cross-ice one-timer by Steven Stamkos during a first-period power play. Seconds later, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat were stuffed from in tight. Spurgeon scored 26 seconds into the second period. His shot from the right point made it through traffic and over Bishop's right pad, giving Dubnyk all the support he would need. Tampa Bay's Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan had golden chances turned away by Dubnyk midway through the second, and Nikita Kucherov was stopped twice later in the period during a power play. The Lightning got Bishop to the bench with 53 seconds to play and had four shots on goal with the extra attacker, including great chances by Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman in the final seconds. But they could not get the puck past Dubnyk. Palat left the game early in the second period with an apparent lower-body injury. Nino Niederreiter landed on his ankle and foot in front of the crease. Palat skated slowly to the bench, left the bench and did not return. He will be reevaluated upon the club's return to Tampa.
Devan Dubnyk: "It's nice to be able to pay these guys back. They've scored four or five goals for me in some wins this year. They worked real hard for me tonight and gave me a chance. I felt good on my blades and I felt pretty patient. That's the most important part of my game."
Mike Yeo: "We talked this morning about guys stepping up. They didn't have to be forwards. "That was definitely [Dubnyk's] best game of the season."
Ryan Suter: "Everybody chipped in. It takes five guys to shut down top players. He showed what he was capable of last year, and tonight he definitely showed it."
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