Postgame: Wild scores 3 power-play goals in win over Winnipeg; Dumba, Keranen impress

The Wild scored three power-play goals and registered 10 shots on four power-play attempts during Saturday's 4-3 preseason win over the Winnipeg Jets.

Jared Spurgeon's snipe with 4 minutes, 51 seconds provided the winner. Nino Niederreiter scored a goal and assist, Mikael Granlund scored a goal, Erik Haula scored on a penalty shot and Michael Keranen assisted on two goals.

Before I get going on the game, please give my Sunday story a read.

J.P. Parise is going through the fight of his life with treatment for Stage 4 lung cancer. I talked with J.P. and his son, Zach, about what they're going through. It's a sad but, in a lot of ways, uplifting story. Let's all keep J.P. and the Parise family in our thoughts and prayers. J.P., who was at tonight's game, is a wonderful man and it meant a lot that the Parises were willing to share such a personal story with me.

As for the game, the Wild was impressive on the power play. It had a shooter's mentality right from its four-shot first one, one that ended with a Granlund goal from the slot off passes from Jason Pominville and Mikko Koivu.

The Wild did a great job working the half wall and using that man, whether it be Koivu, Granlund or Keranen, to draw defenders to them to free up open ice around the net. The Wild constantly moved the puck and got pucks to the net with traffic. Parise said systematically there have been no changes.

It was just a mindset tonight, he said, and maybe a sign of things to come.

I loved Granlund's game tonight. Obviously there was the one play in the third in the slot where he tried to force a pass instead of shoot, but he was real good.

Ryan Suter was solid for his first game. Nothing to worry about with this guy.

Matt Dumba was very impressive. He made a tremendous play to set up Niederreiter's goal and he was physical, which I think is a sign of confidence and feeling more comfortable. Remember, besides his big shot and playmaking, his trademark when drafted was physicality. We didn't see a lot of that during his 13-game taste last season, but he looked good.

I'm on record that if he's not getting power-play time here, I think he should go to Iowa and develop. But if he plays like he did tonight, he adds a big threat to that second unit on the point. He certainly showed Mike Yeo and the brass a lot tonight as he likely battles Christian Folin for that third-pair spot.

Keranen is an interesting one. Is there a place for him on this team if he's healthy? Frankly, maybe not.

So where does Keranen fit? One thing for sure, last year's Finnish Elite League co-leader in points is super-skilled with great vision. Yeo didn't like his first two periods. Yeo said Keranen, 24, showed him a different level in the third period, that he earned himself another game because of that, and in the next game, Yeo wants to see consistency for a full 60.

Yeo really liked Gustav Olofsson's game tonight. He said he has stuff to learn, "but he's got some NHL poise with the puck and vision." Olofsson did suffer "a bit of an upper body injury at the end of the game," Yeo said, and the team will reevaluate him Sunday.

If I remember, Olofsson was checked awkwardly and had trouble getting to his feet.

Niklas Backstrom gave up three goals on 17 shots. The first goal was off poor angle but a perfect shot. The second goal was a weird deflection. The third goal was with Adam Lowry camped in front and Yeo said the toughest thing for a goalie early in camp is tracking pucks through traffic. Yeo noted that Backstrom made a number of clutch saves in the second period.

Overall, I see a much different-looking goalie than we saw in camp last year. In practice, he just looks better.

Great line by Yeo on the new scoreboard: "I always stare at the scoreboard after the other team scores. Bit of a clearer picture on the mistakes that we made (laughing)."

That's it for me. I'll talk to you after Sunday's practice.

I had to trim this out of the notebook in Sunday's paper, but,

There was a special scene on the ice after Saturday's morning skate. Goalie Darcy Kuemper was part of a marriage proposal.

As the skate ended, goalie coach Bob Mason slipped an engagement ring into Kuemper's glove. As he was leaving the ice, a man named Jack Baker -- a former neighbor of Mason -- asked for Kuemper's autograph. Kuemper said he actually had something for Baker's girlfriend, Alaina Olson (Esko, Minn.).