Mathew Dumba’s 2-goal night provided all the offense the Minnesota Wild needed in regulation before Charlie Coyle put home the game winner in the shootout. Devan Dubnyk made 31 saves in his franchise record 21st consecutive start.
Good Morning, Minnesota Wild fans. It took a shootout, but the Wild beat Andrew Hammond and the red-hot Senators in a shootout with two point nights from Mathew Dumba and Mikael Granlund. The Senators kept the game competitive, rallying from down 2-0 to tie the game in just over 3 minutes, but couldn’t unlock Devan Dubnyk in the shootout. Don’t forgot to check out Kirby’s thought’s on the Wild’s trade acquisitions.
First Period:
Nothing extremely fascinating in the first period, but there were some trends for the Wild that would show through for the game.
Justin Fontaine had two quick attempts in the first 3 minutes that both got gobbled up by Hammond.
The Chris Stewart – Mikko Koivu – Thomas Vanek line was a pleasant surprise and I thought Stewart used his size to great advantage and forced turnovers with clean hits. They also had a 3-on-2 chance that failed to click.
Eyes On Isles
Nino Niederreiter took a holding penalty in the 17th minute that sent the Senators to a power play. Ottawa was limited to two shots on goal and the PK looked really good, especially considering Nate Prosser left the game early with an unspecified illness. Kyle Brodziak had a shorthanded try, as well.
The Wild was absolutely killed on odd-man rushes all night, which was a trend that Ottawa started early
Shots after one period; Ottawa Senators 10, Minnesota Wild 12.
Second Period:
Mathew Dumba opened the scoring early in the middle frame for the Wild. After Dumba pestered
out of a scoring chance in the defensive zone, the youngster defenseman fed
for a 3-on-3 rush. Parise, Granlund, and
flew in to the offensive zone, but their rush was broken up.
, Ottawa’s stud defenseman, attempted to clear the puck after the rush and put it right on the stick of Granlund who turned and found Dumba at the top of the left face-off circle. Dumba teed up a huge one-timer and put it right over the head of Hammond to make it
1-0 Wild at 00:52 of the second period.
Dumba’s 5th of the year was an example of a lot of things that are going right with this club, such as the defense jumping up on the rush.
Mika Zibanejad had a 2-on-1 materialize in to a breakaway for him, but got a little too close to Dubnyk’s house, where the big goalie simply poked the puck away.
The Wild’s 3rd line was probably the best all night. Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle have a lot of chemistry and Sean Bergenheim adds a little veteran panache to round on the line. Anyway, they generated scoring chances much of the night, and Bergenheim drew a penalty in the 6th minute that led to the Wild’s second goal of the night.
After the top power play unit registered 4 shots on goal and never really left the zone, the second power play unit took to the ice and cycled through the zone without any shots. Just as Matt Puempel left the box and the Senators returned to full strength, Granlund and Chris Stewart won a couple of board battles and Stewart fed Dumba through the legs of a Ottawa defender. Dumba was low in the slot and essentially unnoticed by Hammond when he picked up the pass and put home a high wrister that popped over Hammond’s glove to make it 2-0 Wild at 08:05 of the second period. Congratulations to Chris Stewart on his first point as a member of the Minnesota Wild. Also, it’s not technically a power play goal (by 4 seconds,) but come on. It’s close enough.
Mika Zibanejad pulled the Senators back in to the game 30 seconds later with a well-timed wrist shot from the low slot. I think the puck bounced a bit before Zibanejad got it and it gave Dubnyk troubles. 2-1 Minnesota at 08:33 of the second period.
The Wild went back to the power play around the 9 minute mark and had just a terrible time. Pominville put the lone shot on goal. Compared to the earlier power play, this try was sloppy and pass heavy, allowing Ottawa to break up chances.
Bobby Ryan tied the game after the Wild’s power play failed to register much of an offensive presence. Coming off really, really great transition work in the neutral zone, Ryan let loose a one-timer from the left face-off circle that Dubnyk couldn’t get to on time. 2-2 Wild tie at 11:48 of the second period.
Minnesota and Ottawa exchanged power play chances in the 12th and 16th minutes, but both were killed off. We remain tied.
Shots after two periods: Ottawa Senators 17, Minnesota Wild 25
Third Period:
Thomas Vanek got moved to the 3rd line with Coyle and Niederreiter to open the final 20 minutes and Sean Bergenheim got to spend time with Koivu again.
Ryan Suter took a tripping penalty in the 3rd minute and the Wild performed really well, holding Ottawa to one shot on goal while blocking several more. Once again, It just goes to show that even with missing pieces, the Wild can perform well.
Mathew Dumba took a penalty in the 10th minute. That’s not interesting; however, As he exited the box, the puck found him and the crowd went insane at the possibility of a hat trick. Dumba made the right call and tried to feed Granlund. He got a beautiful shot away, but the Ottawa goaltender staked up the pads to deny Granlund and Dumba 3-point nights.
The Wild really pushed to put the game away in regulation but couldn’t so off to overtime we go.
Shots on goal through regulation: Ottawa Senators 28, Minnesota Wild 31
Overtime / Shootout:
Really nothing fascinating in overtime, except Ottawa outshot Minnesota by a 5-2 margin. Luckily, Dubnyk was rock solid and held the Wild all the way through the shootout.
Koivu, Pominville and Coyle scored for the Wild in the skills competition while Parise and Niederreiter missed. Dubnyk stopped 2 of 4 Ottawa shooters for the win. Here’s the video if you’d like more. Game over, Wild win 3-2 in a shootout.
Trembley’s Take:
Good win for the Wild, eh? I thought it was pretty well-rounded, even though Granlund, Stewart, and Dumba had all the points. Each line contributed with chances. The defense really stepped up with an ill Prosser, too. Suter logged just over 33 of the game’s 65 minutes and I think he looked fine.
After my concerns with Chris Stewart’s possession numbers, he led all skaters with an even strength corsi-for of 71%, which is insanely good. It also took him all of 1 game to register his first point as a member of the Wild, so congratulations to him. Let’s see if it keeps up.
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So, What should I say about Mathew Dumba that hasn’t been said already? He was a +3 in the Denver game last Sunday and puts home two very different goals tonight. He makes the blue line look less thin all by himself.
The Wild moves to within one point of idle Winnipeg for the top wild card spot and maintains a 3 point buffer on LA. The Wild start a quick road swing in D.C. on Thursday.
Thanks for reading!