Wild

Dubnyk's saves, Parise's shootout goal earn two points for Wild

The goalie made 37 saves, securing the Wild's 10th consecutive road win.

By Michael Russo

March 25, 2015 at 12:10PM

2:34

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – The Wild got into its Long Island hotel at 3 a.m. from Toronto, Mike Yeo got very little sleep and atypically was abrupt with a New York reporter Tuesday morning when asked a question that's become repetitive in Minnesota and beyond.

When asked if he's worried about starting Devan Dubnyk over and over … and over again, the Wild coach countered, "I worry about not starting him."

For good reason.

If Dubnyk didn't start against the Brooklyn-bound Islanders later that night, the Wild would have been run out of its final visit to Nassau Coliseum. Instead, the Wild got another sensational, 37-save performance from its most valuable player, rallied from a deficit and beat the Islanders 2-1 in a shootout for its 10th consecutive road victory.

"He was awesome again," said Zach Parise, who scored the tying goal with 8 minutes, 15 seconds left in the third period, blocked a big shot in the final minute of regulation and scored the lone shootout goal with a post-and-in "beauty."

"Same story," Parise continued. "[Dubnyk was] the big reason why we were able to get out of that first period not down five-nothing. He was that good."

The victory, coupled with Winnipeg's 5-2 loss at Vancouver, enabled the Wild to stretch its lead to three points over the Jets for the Western Conference's top wild-card spot. Ninth-place Los Angeles, which beat the Rangers in New York, is five back of the Wild.

In the first period, the Wild was as dominated as it ever has been this season. It took Minnesota seven minutes to register a shot, and besides outshooting the Wild 16-5, the Isles attempted 32 shots to the Wild's nine. The Islanders were first on every puck, came with speed and fired from everywhere. But yet every time the game reached a TV timeout, a Wild skater would approach Dubnyk with a thankful tap to his overworked pads.

Dubnyk said it was important just to "survive."

"But we always find a way to gather ourselves and get our game going and get the important goals," Dubnyk said.

Dubnyk has started 32 consecutive games with the Wild and 33 in a row overall, the most consecutive starts by an NHL goalie since San Jose's Antti Niemi in 2010-11. Since being pulled in a Jan. 20 game at Detroit, Dubnyk is 3-0-1 with a 1.20 goals-against average and .967 save percentage in the second game of back-to-backs.

"That's why we've done it," Yeo said. "We've seen him do that before. He's a competitor."

After being, as Ryan Suter said, "lucky" to get out of the first scoreless, the Wild settled down and started creating chances. John Tavares scored with 23.7 seconds left in the second, but Yeo altered his lines in the third, the Wild began to buzz shift after shift and finally Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville set up Parise for his 29th goal off his own rebound. "Typical Zach goal. Relentless," Yeo said.

In overtime, Dubnyk got the game to a shootout with a stop on defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

"I can't even count the times that guy's scored on me in the American League … so I was lucky I could at least return the favor a couple times," Dubnyk joked.

In the shootout, Dubnyk wasn't beaten by Frans Neilsen, Kyle Okposo and Tavares, and Parise's 39th career shootout goal helped the Wild improve to 14-1-2 on the road under Dubnyk. He improved to 14-1-1 in 17 road starts with a 1.44 GAA and .952 save percentage. Like the Wild, it was his 10th consecutive road win. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two other active goaltenders have posted a single-season road winning streak of 10 consecutive decisions: Detroit's Jimmy Howard (10-0-0) with the Red Wings in 2010-11 and Montreal's Carey Price (10-0-0) earlier this season.

This road confidence is big considering the Wild has won one road playoff game the past two years.

"We just find ways to do it in every way imaginable," Dubnyk said. "Road wins are huge in the playoffs."

New York Islanders center John Tavares (91) is stopped as he tried score by wrapping the puck past Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk on the last shot of a shootout in an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 24, 2015, in Uniondale, N.Y. Minnesota won 2-1. (AP Photo/Paul Bereswill) (Brian Stensaas — ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

New York Islanders center Casey Cizikas (53) takes down Minnesota Wild center Jordan Schroeder (10) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, March 24, 2015, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Paul Bereswill) (Brian Stensaas — ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk pounced on the puck to deny Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk for a key save in overtime. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Wild’s Zach Parise celebrated with Jason Pominville after beating Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak to tie the score 1-1 in the third period. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)