Wild not pinning loss on Devan Dubnyk despite shaky first period

WINNIPEG – Wild coach Bruce Boudreau considered making a goalie change after the first period Saturday once the Wild tripped into an early 3-0 hole against the Blues.

But he didn't, keeping No. 1 Devan Dubnyk between the pipes and backup Alex Stalock on the bench.

"Sometimes you have to battle through these things," Boudreau said of Dubnyk, who was tagged for all of the Blues' offense in a 6-3 setback suffered by the Wild. "You have to battle through these things. Sometimes it's an easy out just to pull him, and I thought in the second he responded by making a couple great saves. Pretty different. I think he got right into the game, and it got us back into the game."

That perseverance by Dubnyk, however, might not be enough for him to stay in the crease.

Although Boudreau didn't reveal his starter for Monday's game against the Jets in Winnipeg, Stalock could be ushered into duty during the final stop on a two-game road trip through the Central Division.

"We think we got two really good goalies here, and when you play eight games in [14] days, you're going to need both of them," Boudreau said. "I don't think it's any shame or anything if we started Alex or not. Over the course of the year, I think it's going to end up somewhere between 55 and 60 [games] for Duby and 20 and 25 for Alex. And that's the way we're counting on it."

Since posting three consecutive shutouts earlier this month, Dubnyk has given up at least four goals in four starts after his career-best and franchise-record shutout streak ended at 195 minutes, 54 seconds. The six scored by the Blues were the most Dubnyk had given up all season, and while suspect play in front of him led to some can't-miss chances for the Blues, Dubnyk hasn't looked the same since his stellar run.

"The most important thing is just making sure you stay with it, and I thought I got to my game pretty good in the second period there."

Consistency from the goaltending position is key, but so is cleaner play in front of the net. The Blues feasted on lapses in the Wild's end Saturday.

Boudreau has juggled his defensive pairings in recent games but has yet to settle on a stabilizing combination, with the Wild averaging 3.83 goals-against per game over its past six. He did chat with Iowa Wild coach Derek Lalonde on Sunday and asked for recommendations on which blue-liners in the minors might merit a look, insight he said he'd pass along to General Manager Chuck Fletcher.

"We'll see what goes on," Boudreau said.

But regardless of any tweaks, the core of this team is already intact and it'll be up to that group to improve in its own end — a message Boudreau shared Sunday, as the Wild held a team meeting and players worked out instead of getting on the ice for practice on the heels of a back-to-back.