Minnesota Wild Three Stars of the Week
Third Star- Erik Haula
Jan 13, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Erik Haula (56) skates with the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The Penguins won 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Finnesotan had a pretty solid week last week, with a goal and two assists. Haula notched a give and go assist on Justin Fontaine’s goal towards the tail end of the savage beating the Penguins gave the Wild last Tuesday. Then in the Thursday game against Buffalo, Haula’s breakaway speed was in full effect as he grabbed the puck shorthanded and tore down the ice, eventually resulting in a Kyle Brodziak short-handed goal. To cap off the drubbing of the hapless Sabres, Haula fired a laser Power Play goal top shelf for just his fourth goal of the season.
While he’s had a very disappointing season on the whole, his heating up could be a key to the Wild’s second half surge they’ll need to make the playoffs. Haula has been a coveted asset on the Penalty Kill so far this season, and while that’s nice and all, many Wild fans have been expecting the former Gopher to tap into his blazing speed a little more to create some scoring, like he did with the Brodziak shorty. Hopefully this week is a sign of things to come, and Haula can get back to the success he had in the playoffs last year, producing some scoring for the Wild.
Second Star- Devan Dubnyk
Jan 17, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk (40) makes a save during the third period against the Arizona Coyotes at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports
How long has it been since a goalie has been in the Three Stars of the Week? Well, November, to give you an idea as to how bad/inconsistent/vomit inducing the goaltending has been for the Wild.
Enter Devan Dubnyk.
Sure, the big fella got an easy start with his new team facing the pride of the AHL, the Buffalo McSabres, but he turned away all 18 feeble shots from them, and then followed up that performance with a slightly more impressive one, saving 25 of 26 shots in a win against the Coyotes on Hockey Day Minnesota Saturday. That makes for 43 out of 44 shots stopped by Doobie, and a .977 Save Percentage is a pretty solid start to get you going with a new team. Also, the dude added a freaking assist in his second game with the team. Who does that?
The Wild’s trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be a tough one, and they will likely need some solid or better than solid goaltending to get where they want to go in that regard. The team had high aspirations entering the season, now they’ve traded for Dubnyk to save their bacon and carry us to the postseason. No Pressure.
First Star- Zach Parise
Jan 15, 2015; Buffalo, NY, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise (11) during the game against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
What a week.
Zach Parise returned to action last weekend after the passing of his father J.P., and then proceeded to make his father proud in the coming games. After being held off the statsheet in Pittsburgh, Zach tallied a goal and an assist in Buffalo with the offense firing on all cylinders, and some cylinders they didn’t even know they had, then capped off Hockey Day Minnesota with the empty net dagger against the Coyotes. J.P. Would be proud, and hopefully Zach can find some peace in that.
Hopefully returning to the ice was as comforting for Parise as it was for Wild fans to see him back.