When Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher sent a 2015 third-round draft pick to the Arizona Coyotes on January 14, he had no idea the player he was trading for, goaltender Devan Dubnyk, would eventually catapult the organization from bottom-feeder hopelessness to playoff-bound success.
Dubnyk, a Regina, Canada, native, sported a modest 9-5-2 record at the time and was posting a subpar .916 save percentage with the Coyotes. For a miniscule cap hit of only $800,000, there wasn’t much risk in dealing for the 28-year-old net minder. At worst, he would turn out to be a complete flop, and the team would continue spiraling further downwards in the Western Conference standings.
However, from the first game Dubnyk stepped between the pipes for the Wild, he has been an unsolvable force for his opposition and has ultimately progressed into the undisputed hottest goalie in the entire NHL.
Saturday night in St. Louis, Dubnyk made his 27th consecutive start in the blue paint for Minnesota. Following the conclusion of that contest, he quite easily could’ve been charged with grand larceny after his 41-save performance convincingly backstopped the Wild to a 3-1 victory over the Blues at Scottrade Center.
Minnesota was drastically outshot 42-19 and was forced to block an additional 24 shots in order to keep it from getting ridiculously out of hand.
There’s no sense in underplaying it. Dubnyk was sensational yet again and managed to keep his team in a 1-1 tie game for most of the tilt. Eventually, his incredible individual performance would be rewarded when teammates Nino Niederreiter and Mikko Koivu scored back-to-back goals 17 seconds apart 13:44 into the third period to seal the win.
These two points were just another feather in Dubnyk’s cap as the Wild continued to climb higher in the standings moving three points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets. They currently sit in the first wild card spot with 83 total points and 13 games remaining on their regular-season schedule.
Despite having a disappointing and, in all honesty, undeserving 0-7 lifetime record against the Blues in his career, Dubnyk battled in his crease all night long and pulled out another goalie win for his teammates.
“I try not to think about it before,” said Dubnyk. “This is kind of my unicorn. I got my first start against these guys in Edmonton. It was real ugly…it’s nice to get out there with a different team and get one so I can stop thinking about it.”
This was Minnesota’s first regulation win in St. Louis since Oct. 20, 2007 after 13 straight losses over the course of the last seven seasons. Without the stellar play of their goaltender, it easily could’ve been 14.
Having a metaphorical brick wall to lean on gives players much needed confidence and belief on a nightly basis in the NHL. Dubnyk has undeniably given that and much more to his teammates in the North Star State. It’s safe to assume the Wild will make their third straight postseason appearance this April, and their man between the pipes deserves the majority of credit.
Dubnyk is 20-5-1 since debuting with Minnesota and continues to improve his .929 save percentage and 2.08 goals against average. Additionally, he has six shutouts to this point in the season. He is slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year, and if the Wild want to continue their winning ways for years to come, they’ll be sure to re-sign him before July 1.
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