Devan Dubnyk made 34 saves to help the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Ryan Carter and Thomas Vanek scored for the Wild, who defeated the Stars for the first time this season after blowing a lead in two of three losses (0-1-2).
Vanek's 13th goal made it 2-0 at 11:20 of the second period. Cody Eakin attempted to clear the puck from the Stars zone, but it hit the shaft of Charlie Coyle's stick near the blue line. Vanek collected it in the slot and put a backhand shot past Dallas goalie Antti Niemi into the top of the net. It was Vanek's first non-empty net goal in 12 games.
Carter opened the scoring 3:34 into the second with his fourth goal. Jarret Stoll's cross-ice pass from the left side deflected off Erik Haula's stick at the far post and went through the paint before Carter knocked it in.
Jamie Benn scored his NHL-leading 25th goal on the power play with 3:13 remaining to pull Dallas within one. Niemi, who made 23 saves, left the ice with 1:22 remaining, but the Stars had one shot on goal with the extra attacker.
Dallas appeared to take a 1-0 lead at 4:46 of the first period when defenseman John Klingberg beat Dubnyk with a wrist shot from the right hash marks, but Yeo challenged the call on the ice, and video review showed Antoine Roussel interfered with the Minnesota goalie. Dubnyk made 11 saves in the first period, including a sprawling kick save on a wrist shot by Jyrki Jokipakka from the slot at 7:56 of the first period. With 6:36 remaining in the first period, Tyler Seguin's wrist shot from the left circle hit the far goal post on a Dallas power play.
The Wild almost took a 2-0 lead at 5:39 of the second period, but Zach Parise hit the far post with a backhand from the right circle. Parise also nearly scored at 9:29 of the second, attempting to slip a backhand inside the near post, but following a video review, it was ruled the puck failed to entirely cross the goal line. Minnesota outshot Dallas 15-8 in the second period. Wild captain Mikko Koivu felt the difference in the game was the strong defense they played for the entire 60 minutes.
In the third period, Niemi made a save on Jason Zucker on a breakaway and on Nino Niederreiter at close range to keep the Stars within striking distance. The Stars are 1-3-1 in their past five games. They don't play again until Friday at the Anaheim Ducks. The Wild conclude a back-to-back Sunday against the New Jersey Devils at Xcel Energy Center.
Stars Quotes
Lind Ruff: "Second period, we had some tough plays, tough puck management [that] cost us. We weren't shooting the puck very well. The few times [we did get a good chance], it was pretty easy saves for the goaltender."
Alex Goligoski: "Everybody's looking forward to getting a few days and just recharge, and a couple practices in there too. We've probably had one practice in the last two weeks. That's where you create your habits."
Jason Spezza: "We need some time away. We need some time to rest. We've lost some games here. We had a bad five-game set, and we're not happy with how we're playing. We need to get our game back."
Wild Quotes
Mike Yeo: "That's what we talked about. There's been times this year where we've played solid hockey against them, but when they've pushed, we didn't push back." "[Dubnyk] was solid all night. He was real good at the end of the game, too, when he had to make a huge save with the goalie pulled, but yeah, he was composed and he was calm in there all night and obviously made some huge saves."
"In the third period, actually I know they got the goal there, but we could have had probably about four goals with so many opportunities that we had, so liked the way that we were going there."
Devan Dubnyk: "I haven't had a lot of luck with the goalie interference calls. They got the call right. [Roussel] has got both feet in my crease. You can't argue he's got both feet in the blue."
Mikko Koivu: "I think for 60 minutes we were tight and we were good defensively. For sure, with their offensive power, you need to be good defensively to play good and get a win. I thought we did that tonight."
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