On Tuesday night, the Wild lost 3-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights but still left T-Mobile Arena with a split of the first two games of the West Division first-round playoff series.
Afterward, Matt Dumba was asked if the Wild had proved it can compete with the Golden Knights, a team that has five playoff series triumphs and a Stanley Cup Final appearance to its credit since its inaugural season in 2017-18.
The defenseman quickly had a counter. "We're not proving anything to ourselves," Dumba said. "We know the level that we can play at. It's more you guys, the media, putting us as underdogs. You're going to see a totally different team at home. We're a different beast."
Game 3 shifts the series to Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night, and it was Dumba who did seemingly everything possible in an attempt to swing Tuesday's game the Wild's way. A spirited first period by Minnesota saw Dumba collect four of his game-high eight blocked shots. In the second period, he fired a shot from the point past Marc-Andre Fleury, giving Minnesota a 1-0 lead against the stingy goalie. And in the third, his slapshot with 1:51 to play was the last, best chance for the Wild to tie the score.
The all-around effort from Dumba, which followed a Game 1 in which he twice was whistled for penalties, drew praise from his coach.
"Just his will," Dean Evason said when asked what impressed him. "When Matt simplifies his game, he's got such tremendous ability — skating, shooting, offensive instincts. When he's really playing north — going forward, moving the puck, moving his legs, getting up the ice — that's when he's effective."
Dumba also was effective using his body to knock down the Golden Knights' shots. In two games, he has nine of the Wild's 49 blocked shots.
"It just so happened that the plays were breaking like that and I was getting in front of shots," Dumba said. "Any of my teammates would have done the same."