Dubnyk's strong third period lifts Wild to 2-1 victory over Panthers

St. Paul and Sunrise, Fla., the homes of the Wild and Panthers, are 1,750 miles apart, but it's eerie how the teams were mirror images heading into Thursday's meeting at Xcel Energy Center.

Both had the same amount of points in the standings. Both could move within two points of a playoff spot in their respective conferences if they won. And both play nearly identical systems, from neutral-zone forecheck to defensive-zone coverages to the way they break out.

"And it equaled not a lot of flow," Zach Parise said after scoring the winning goal on a power play in the Wild's 2-1 victory. "Oh my gosh, it was not a lot of offense either way, a lot of neutral zone. Not the most entertaining, but that's how they're going to be sometimes. The result is what we want."

The Wild, back within two points of eighth place and five of seventh-place Winnipeg with three games in hand, is 7-0-1 since the All-Star break, has points in nine straight games (tied for the second-longest point streak in franchise history) and is 9-1-2 since the arrival of goaltending workhorse Devan Dubnyk.

Dubnyk made 26 saves, including eight on the Wild's 5-for-5 penalty kill that is now 22-for-22 in eight games since the break. Dubnyk, making his 12th consecutive start, is 9-1-1 with the Wild and has a 1.48 goals-against average and .943 save percentage. He has allowed two or fewer goals in nine starts.

Jason Pominville, goal-less in 12 games until Monday, scored for the third straight game, and Nick Bjugstad, who spent his childhood and teenage years roaming the corridors of Xcel Energy Center, scored the lone goal for Florida off a filthy, bad-angle shot. The Panthers have never won in regulation in St. Paul.

The game played out as coach Mike Yeo predicted. The Wild didn't execute well with the puck. He pinned it on playing four games in six days and not having a "hatred" for the Panthers the way it had for recent opponents Winnipeg, Vancouver, Chicago and Calgary.

"It was a classic trap game," Yeo said. "I challenged the guys. They responded. Not to say that we were at our best, but we found a way to win."

Special teams was the key. Parise jammed in his 22nd goal (12th in NHL) off Thomas Vanek's setup after some slick puck movement by the No. 1 unit. It was Parise's eighth power-play goal (tied for 11th in the NHL). The penalty kill, which went 3-for-3 in the third period including a 79-second 4-on-6 to end the game, was stifling.

"The further you go in the season, the 5-on-5 is going to get tougher and tougher," said captain Mikko Koivu, who assisted on both goals for his 113th career multi-point game (one shy of Marian Gaborik's team record). "Teams are tight, teams know how to play their systems, so special teams will be huge."

Part of the key is Dubnyk, who continues to calm things down by swallowing pucks. Time and again, Dubnyk hung on to pucks to allow tired teammates to change.

"You want to eat it up when you can," Dubnyk said.

Another key during the Wild's hot streak is its ability to strike first. During the Wild's 9-1-2 stretch, it has scored first in all nine victories. It is 0-1-2 when giving up the first goal.

The streaky Pominville drove the net, turned his right skate and redirected Koivu's pass behind Roberto Luongo. A year ago, the goal would have been disallowed. But the NHL has liberalized redirects off skates this season and the video review ended quickly with a good goal.

Pominville had no idea if the goal would count.

"I think there's a new rule, right, where you kinda can kick it?" Pominville said. "When I came to the bench, most guys said it was probably going to be a goal, so we'll take it."