Minnesota Wild: The Devan Dubnyk Factor
The Minnesota Wild has found a star goaltender in Devan Dubnyk, which is a very good thing as the team will be moving forward to face the ever formidable Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
This is the third consecutive year the two teams will meet and it may be the first that the Wild have a shot at winning. The Blackhawks knocked the Wild out in six games last year, and in five games the year before that.
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But now, the Wild have a Vezina Trophy finalist between the pipes. In the past few seasons, including this year’s, the Wild have struggled to find a permanent goaltender; the team has gone through five netminders since last season.
This year, the team split the responsibilities between Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom. Unfortunately, neither goaltender proved to be consistent; Backstrom played 19 games and performed below .500, and Kuemper played in 31 games and was a little above .500. These numbers just weren’t good enough.
It wasn’t until the trade deadline, when the team was out of playoff contention by eight points, that the Wild got the solution to their problems: Dubnyk. He came from Arizona where he served as a quasi-starter, but it was in Minnesota that Dubnyk found his place.
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Dubnyk’s first start for his new team ended with a shutout against the Buffalo Sabres, and was just the beginning of his heroics. He started 37 straight games after, setting a new franchise record at 38. More impressively, he recorded a 27-9-2 record with a 1.78 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and five shutouts in that span. Dubnyk also tied the League record for winningest goaltender in consecutive road wins when he was in net for 11 of the Wild’s 12 wins.
All these feats pale in comparison to what he has brought to the Wild this playoff season: consistency and stability. He is not perfect, as we saw him stumble in the series against the St. Louis Blues, but he has provided the Wild with the foundation for success. The Wild’s defense can feel more comfortable joining the rush, knowing they have a capable goaltender to back up their mistakes, and the entire team is exuding more confidence due to the man between the pipes.
Dubnyk has not only ignited the Wild, but the Minnesota community as well. People are starting to believe that their team can go the distance. The Wild knocked out one team that excelled in the regular season, can they do it again? With Dubnyk in net—anything’s possible.