3 Things We Learned: Wild owe Dubnyk an expensive dinner

Well, well, well. For almost 68 minutes it looked like the Wild would pick up their first win of season, but the standing crowd would become silent as new Vegas Golden Knight Max Pacioretty picks up his 1st goal as a Knight that would tie things up with only 1:31 left in the 3rd period. Could the Wild pick their game up and win it in overtime or the shootout? Both Parise and Koivu (who hit the post) had chances in the the overtime session, but couldn’t could find the back of the net. So we head to the shoot-out and former Wild Erik Haula would win it for Vegas in the third round in a goal Dubnyk would like to have back. Dubnyk knew it once it crossed the goal line he should’ve had that and force it to the fourth round, but the Wild do pick up a point against Vegas tonight in their home opener. Here are 3 things from tonight’s game that stood out.

Thing 1: We all owe Devan Dubnyk dinner

If it wasn’t for Dubnyk the Wild would be 0-2 on the season. Dubnyk made save after save not only tonight but in their opener against Colorado to give the Wild a chance to get a win, but the offense was a no show. Saturday night the Wild were out shot again and if it wasn’t for Dubnyk making timely saves, nobody knows how bad Saturday could’ve been for the Wild. Just how bad have the Wild been outshot? In the first 2 games the fact that they have salvaged a point so far is remarkable. Minnesota has been outshot to the tune of 82-51 in the first 2 games, and Dubnyk is the only reason the Wild are 0-1-1 on the season. We all need to buy him a nice steak dinner along with dessert.

Thing 2: When will the offense get going?

The Wild have struggled to find the back of the net. Just 2 goals in 2 games. Rough start, if you ask me. When will the offense we saw last year start to come together and put pucks in the back of the net for the Wild? The Wild now have 4 days before the play again against Central division opponent Chicago Blackhawks to figure that out. Will they finally wake up or could this be the beginning of a long year for the Wild?

Thing 3: The Wild need shoot-out practice.

The three players Bruce Boudreau put out for the shoot-out on Saturday night need looked out of shootout shape. Parise, Zucker, Koivu have all scored in the past, but last night looked like they didn't have a plan when heading down the ice. Perhaps changing the shootout rotation is necessary? Where is Granlund, or someone else to provide some sort of pressure on the opposing team in the shoot-out? It's the same guys all the time. Change things up. See what works in practice during shoot-outs and and with that guy. Honestly, SOMEONE JUST SCORE!!! Hopefully this little break will help the guys or we could be talking about the same things come Thursday night against Chicago.