In St Paul, the Minnesota Wild got a big lift from newly acquired Ryan Donato when he scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 decision over the visiting St Louis Blues on Sunday night.
“Especially in overtime, a goalie never really expects a shot from outside, especially the position that I was in,” Donato said. “So I just tried to fire it off guard through the guy’s legs or stick and luckily it went in.”
Jason Zucker scored in regulation for the Wild – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves in the win.
“It’s crazy. I just said to [backup goalie Alex Stalock], ‘It’s amazing what one week will do,'” Dubnyk said. “I think it’s just we’re working. We’re not panicking if we get stuck in our end or we make a mistake or a bounce goes here or there. We’re not letting it affect what we’re doing. We’re comfortable and you start to get that feeling like you’re going to win again. … You start to get that feeling back, and that’s how it goes. We just have to continue to keep growing on it.”
Minnesota improved to 30-27-6.
Alex Pietrangelo scored the Blues’ only goal.
The Wild remain in a battle for the playoffs and lead the race for the second wild card spot.
Jason Zucker scored for the Wild in regulation; his goal came in the third period to force the extra session.
“It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the game,” Pietrangelo said. “But I thought we found our stride. A little late, but we found a way to get a point out of it. Right now, we want two, but a point’s better than nothing.”
[WATCH: All Blues vs. Wild highlights]
Jake Allen made 33 saves in the loss.
“I don’t know what will happen (with the Trade Deadline). There’s still a dozen hours until decision time, but we have a pretty good group in here right now. I think we put together something significant here that at the start of the year, I guarantee none of us could have predicted this, it doesn’t matter what you said,” Allen said. “To see the turnaround in this group and this group of guys, I think we deserve a chance to go at it and I’m sure they feel the same way. We’re in a playoff spot as of today and hopefully we can continue that the rest of the games we have left.”
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