2/10 RECAP: Coyle Scores Twice, Dubnyk Earns the Shutout Over Chicago

The roller coaster is at the top for this one.

In typical up-and-down fashion, the Minnesota Wild (30-19-6) has displayed as of late, the local hockey team came to play on this particular night. They shut out the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 behind Devan Dubnyk and a pair of goals from Charlie Coyle, who reached 200 career points with the tallies.

Yes, this time around the Wild managed to hold their 3-0 lead, unlike the debacle against Arizona.

“I thought the perfect response was the first 10 minutes of the game,” said coach Bruce Boudreau. “I mean, we came out with a lot of energy.”

Dubnyk was a huge part of that and brought his A game for the night, not allowing many juicy rebounds and stopping all 44 shots – a season-high – the Blackhawks (24-23-8) sent his way. Perhaps his best stint of the night came during an early penalty kill when the Wild went down two men for the full two minutes early in the first period. Dubnyk made five saves in those two minutes.

Most saves in a shutout, @mnwild history:

48 – Niklas Backstrom (Feb. 19, 2012)

44 – Devan Dubnyk (Feb. 10, 2018)#NHLStats #CHIvsMIN pic.twitter.com/lj3ngQ8sce

 

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 11, 2018

Marcus Foligno and Lance Bouma threw some haymakers in a fight early on in the game, after Bouma’s hit on Nate Prosser. Mike Reilly also came to Prosser’s defense, so he and Foligno both went to the penalty box. Dubnyk and the NHL’s second-best home penalty kill kept them off the board in what could have been an early turning point.

“Guys worked hard and gave me good looks,” Dubnyk said.

The odds are typical with a team that can kill off a 5-on-3, according to Boudreau. Dubnyk’s play reminded Boudreau of the way his top goaltender played the first half of last season.

“He had to make some really good saves,” Boudreau said. “They shoot the puck from everywhere.”

Coyle gave the Wild a quick 1-0 lead not even two minutes into the game. He wasn’t even in front of the net. In one of those I-meant-to-do-that plays, Coyle was behind the goal when he banked a shot off the Chicago goaltender Jeff Glass.

Coyle’s second of the game came at just 2:22 into the second period on a two-on-one chance. He’s known for being an unselfish player, but this time he took the shot himself and beat Glass, denying the pass over to Zach Parise.

Defenseman Gustav Olofsson, seeing some more playing time with the absence of the injured Jonas Brodin, tallied his fifth assist of the season and third in the past three games. He came close to cashing in his first goal of the season, but he was just a step shy of putting a juicy rebound into an open net during the first period.

Mikko Koivu scored his second goal in the past three games, and his eighth of the season, when he tipped a Matt Dumba shot on the power play. Ryan Suter earned the second assist; it was his 29th assist of the season and 30th in his career against the Blackhawks.

The @mnwild improved to 9-0-3 in their last 12 games at Xcel Energy Center, extending their longest home point streak in franchise history. #NHLStats #CHIvsMIN pic.twitter.com/rTzQcBkYtF

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 11, 2018

Despite the numbers on the scoreboard, shots on goal were a bit different. It’s a good thing three of those shots went in the back of the net.

The Wild didn’t even have a shot on goal the rest of the period after Koivu scored – at 6:31 of the first period. The Blackhawks outshot the Wild 17-5 in the first, 12-7 in the second and 15-7 in the third for a game total of 44-19. Not that shots on goal matter for game results, but it’s still a weird statistic.

Let’s remember, too: Chicago has now lost five straight games and is on pace to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

In goal:

Dubnyk (22-10-4) with 44 saves on 44 shots. Glass (3-5-3) with 16 saves on 19 shots.

Tidbits:

Up next:

The Wild host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

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