The sweep of the NHL from Saturday night starts in Denver where the Avalanche were looking to pick up two crucial points on the Minnesota Wild.
Instead, Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves in a 4-0 shutout of the Avs.
Devan Dubnyk picked up shutout of Avs – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Wild now have a five-point lead in the wild card race over the Avs.
“Until we’re in, you’re never happy,” Wild coach John Torchetti said. “That’s just the bottom line, that’s why it’s game by game. Anyone can make up points, you’ve seen it all over the League. That’s a great win and we’re going to have a nice plane ride, then back to work.”
Zach Parise scored twice and Mikael Granlund and Jordan Schroeder added markers.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, but I think we put ourselves in a good spot,” Parise said. “We’ve still got some tough games coming up and games we’ve got to win, but we like the position we’re in now as opposed to having come in and lost.
“It’s far from over, we know that. A lot can happen, but at least now we can control where we go. We put ourselves in a good spot where you want to keep pushing them down.”
The Avs have a game in hand on the Wild but are playing only .500 hockey at home.
“We’ve done a good job on the road this year, but that means nothing if you can’t get the wins at home,” Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be well above .500 at home.”
Dubnyk stopped 11 shots in the first period when the Avs were hoping to take control of the game.
“They come out flying here, look to take the body, intimidate you a little bit,” said Dubnyk, who has five shutouts this season and 19 in his NHL career, 10 with the Wild. “They’re always talking. I don’t know if they think it’s scary, but we do a pretty good job of sticking to our game. We weathered the start in the first period, got right to our game and stuck with it for the rest.
“The more games we win down the stretch, the tougher it’s going to be for them to catch us. We know they have a tough schedule, but every game is tough. We’re going to be in the same boat, just have to keep winning.”
In Montreal, the New York Rangers got a rare win over the Canadiens, 5-2, on Saturday.
Chris Kreider scored two goals including a brilliant effort off a steal in the defensive zone and solo effort to the cage for a goal.
Derrick Brassard scored 27th in win over Habs – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Derick Brassard, JT Miller and Derek Stepan also scored.
“We’re trying to find the right chemistry between lines right now and Chris is a big part of our team, and to see him score two goals like that and be involved in the game, that’s something that, our team, we’re pretty excited about, and hopefully it’s going to give him some confidence,” Brassard said. “I really liked everyone on our team tonight, but I liked our line.
“I liked the way me, (Nash) and (Kreider) played together and hopefully we can bring that confidence (Sunday) and for the rest of the season.”
The Rangers have rediscovered their power play with two goals in three chances Saturday.
“We were able to capitalize early on a few of their mistakes,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “They’ve got a couple of young (defensemen) out there and we were able to put a little bit of pressure on them. And our power play came up big. The first two opportunities, you score both times, so up by three after two, you’re in pretty good shape.”
Lars Eller and Phillip Danault scored goals for the Habs.
“We got beat by a better team, with more depth, more maturity; it was as simple as that,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said.
Mike Condon got the start but was replaced by Ben Scrivens in the third period.
“We want that number two seed in our division and those guys are playing some really good hockey,” Brassard said. “They’re probably one of the best teams in the League right now, and it’s just going to be fun to play in front of our fans and it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
Antti Raanta made 24 saves for the win.
In Calgary, the Chicago Blackhawks got out of a slump with a 4-1 win over the Flames.
Andrew Ladd led the offense with two goals.
“I think we lost a ton of ground here and trying to get a win was the most important thing here,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’ve still got to be better. We found a way to win, which was nice. [Darling] was very instrumental in the win. I just think that scoreboard watching when you’re in this position is not where we need to be. We’ve got to get two points and take care of our own business.”
Andrew Shaw and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hawks.
“I needed to make up for that dumb penalty I took,” Shaw said. “I did what I could to get to the net. We had some big kills there … 5-on-3 opportunity and we killed it. Penalty kill was good tonight. To get a big goal and answer the bell after that, it’s huge.”
Scott Darling helped Hawks break slump in Calgary – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Scott Darling made 31 saves for the win.
“Darling was huge,” Shaw said. “He made some big-time saves. He fought through traffic to find pucks. He was lights-out tonight.”
Dougie Hamilton scored the lone Flames goal and Joni Ortio made 23 saves in the loss.
“We played a pretty good game,” Hamilton said. “We knew they were struggling a bit and they played well defensively. They only gave up the one. Their goalie played good and they capitalized on their plays. I thought we worked hard, though.”
The win was not sealed until Ladd and Teravainen scored empty-netters with time winding down.
“We need to get confidence in the right areas and I thought for the most part we played the way we need to play night-in, night-out,” Ladd said. “It should give us confidence in terms of the way we need to play and having success within that system.”
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