A game after losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime, the Minnesota Wild managed a 2-1 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Friday night.
Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves to earn his 30th win of the season.
Dubnyk is at or near the top of the statistical heap in most categories this season.
“[The wins], that’s the most important [stat], definitely,” Dubnyk said. “That’s the one you want to be on the top of, and that’s certainly a race I’ll pay attention to more than the other stats. But, it’s fun. It’s been a great season so far, that way, with the feeling in the dressing room, with how much we’ve enjoyed this [winning] and don’t want it to stop.”
Nino Niederreiter put the Wild up in the middle frame on the power play.
“I thought it felt like a playoff game from the start. They’re a really good team. They’re missing some guys. They’ve been there before. They’re in their sense of urgency right now. They’re playing really well.” Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 37 saves in the loss as the Lightning dropped to 24-24-7.
“I think we played well enough to win this game, but it was a good game. Two teams played good hockey. Guess you could have tilted it either way. We definitely needed that extra point, but we couldn’t pull it out, but that’s how it goes in the shootout sometimes,” the Lightning’s Anton Stralman said after the loss.
Mikko Koivu scored the only goal in the shootout to get the Wild the win who improved to 36-12-6.
“Their goalie’s really good. It’s a really good hockey team there, and I think they do a good job in the neutral zone. They’re in your face all the time, so it was a hard game. They play fast. We had to work, it was tough,” the Wild’s Zach Parise said of Vasilevskiy.
WATCH: All Lightning vs. Wild highlights
Brayden Point tied the game about six minutes after Minnesota had taken the lead in the second.
“Getting points is huge for us right now,” Point said. “Anytime we can do that, we’re happy. Obviously not satisfied, we want two points, but I think we played a better game [tonight].”
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