The three-game sweep starts in St Paul where the Wild just continued their winning ways Thursday getting 28 saves from Devan Dubnyk en route to a 1-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“It’s the rare one-goal-against shutout,” Dubnyk said. “You don’t see it too often.”
The only “goal” allowed by Dubnyk was to Pater Holland with four minutes left in regulation.
But the Wild challenged the call.
“We got word quickly,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “And if we would have had a miscommunication, we would have been calling that one. We saw that one live.”
It was not for lack of trying on the Leafs’ part as they controlled much of the game but could not put enough quality shots on Dubnyk to break through.
“I thought we played well,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We had lots of opportunities, they didn’t have many. I thought we did a good job. Unfortunately, we didn’t score.
“We just have to keep grinding. We need our specialty teams to score. You have to find ways to score goals.”
Matt Dumba scored the lone goal of the game in the second period on James Reimer who made 27 saves in the loss.
“I thought we played great, just one of those games where we couldn’t find a way to score,” Reimer said. “We had a lot of good chances and did a lot of good things, but they found a way to get one. If we keep playing like that, we’re bound to score goals.”
In Ottawa, Patrick Kane extended his point streak to 21 games but the Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Senators, 4-3, in extra time.
Mike Hoffman scored just 30 seconds into overtime for the game winner.
“It’s one of those things I’m not too worried about when I’m playing the game,” Kane said about the streak. “I guess when you’re tied for anything with Bobby Hull it’s pretty special considering the career that guy had. Like I said, I’m not too worried about it.”
It was Hoffman’s second of the game after opening the scoring in the first.
“You watch it, and you see it go off the post and up,” Hoffman said of his last-second chance in the third. “Late in the period, try to get it off, I didn’t know what the clock was at. I think I had Crawford beat, but not the net.
“It took [61] minutes but we got the job done.”
Bobby Ryan and Mark Stone also scored for the Sens.
“It’s another example of a game where we had spurts where we controlled the game,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “We ended up giving a couple of weak power-play goals where we let the guy walk right in, giving up shots from the slot.
“It’s not fun to lose those games, especially when we’re playing pretty good hockey. It’s just little defensive letdowns that are costing us points the last little while.”
In Nashville, the visiting Florida Panthers took a 2-1 decision from the Predators.
Roberto Luongo made 32 saves to back up goals from Quinton Howden and Jonathan Huberdeau.
“You want to get on a bit of a roll and get some points,” Luongo said. “I think, especially this road trip, we’ve had some tough tests and we’ve played some good hockey as a team. We’ve won some gritty road games. That’s the type of hockey when we play here, and that’s the way we win.”
Pekka Rinne made 14 saves in the loss for the Preds.
“We’ve done a good job I think as far as our systems the last few games,” Luongo said. “We’re really not giving up any breakaways or 2-on-1s, stuff that we were seeing a little bit a few weeks ago. When we do that, it gives ourselves a chance. Even if they get a 3-on-2 or 4-on-3, it’s a bit different than a 2-on-1 and stuff like that. Guys have been working hard and blocking shots and stuff like that. That’s what it takes to win hockey games. You’ve got to pay the price for your team, and we’re doing that right now.”
Roman Josi cut the Panthers’ 2-0 lead in half in the second period but neither team was able to make a dent in the scoreboard after that.
“Tonight I think we could’ve been in better position,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “We ran out of position a little bit, and we got caught in front of the net. The penalty kill is moving around. It’s never just one thing. Sometimes it’s your pressure, sometimes it’s coverage. It’s different things.”
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