A Look At Devan Dubnyk’s Fantastic Run with Wild

About a year after the last, Chuck Fletcher might have made yet another season-saving move. Last year, the Wild found themselves in a very familiar situation. They needed more wins and better goalkeeping in order to stay in the playoff race.

More from Sporting Sota

• Minnesota Twins bullpen will be their downfall
• Top 5 Minnesota Twins Pitching Prospects
• Kyle Rudolph signing gives stability to Minnesota Vikings offense
• Jake Odorizzi’s emergence fueling Twins starting staff
• Former Minnesota Twins player David Ortiz shot

Fletcher made a phone call to Edmonton, and the Wild picked up notoriously ‘different’ goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov in hopes of a strong push to the end of the season. Bryz didn’t light the world on fire, but he played well and kept the Wild on track, going 7-2-3 over the final stretch of the regular season and picking up three playoff victories.

Fast-forward to January 15, 2015 and you’ll find another Minnesota Wild team struggling to find solid goaltending and seriously underperforming its talent level.

Chuck Fletcher made another phone call, this time to Arizona.

He brought in Devan Dubnyk, a 28-year old goaltender who spent 5 seasons with Edmonton before his 19-game stint with the Coyotes. The move was met with much consternation, as Wild fans wanted a bigger name between the pipes in order to get the most out of their highly-skilled team. But after sitting behind Mike Smith all season despite fairly good numbers, Dubnyk just wanted a chance at a starting role.

More from Minnesota Wild

• Minnesota Wild: a pleasant early season surprise
• Minnesota Wild: Chuck Fletcher had to go
• Minnesota Wild: Changes are coming
• Wild lose Parise, game four, quite possibly the series
• Down 0-2, Wild aren’t worried yet

He has taken that chance and run with it.

He started his career in red and green with a 7-0 victory over Buffalo and it has been almost as good since. The Wild have gone 12-1-3, behind a 1.75 goals against average from Dubnyk. The run has included five shutouts and a six-game winning streak.

According to the 6-6 goaltender from Regina, Saskatchewan, it’s just been about enjoying the ride.

“It’s just been so much fun. The wins have felt so good and you know, I said before in Edmonton, just the way that we’ve won games in all different kinds of ways, different people chipping in at different times. When we give up three we score five and when we need to keep it a low scoring game we’re able to do that. It’s just been a great run and we’ve done a really good job of just looking at that next game and concentrating on one game at a time and it’s allowed us be successful. It makes it enjoyable to go out there and be able to wrap yourself up in that one game.”

More importantly for Minnesota, their playoff-chances have come back to life. From the third-worst record in the Western Conference a little over a month ago, the Wild have a chance to jump into the eighth spot with a victory over the Stars on Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

And it all started with another brilliant phone call from Chuck Fletcher.

Next: Justin Fontaine Making Most of Opportunity

Feb 20, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter (20) congratulates goalie Devan Dubnyk (40) on a shutout win against his former team the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Steve Alkok-USA TODAY Sports