Wild Going For 3rd Straight Win Against Columbus
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- The Minnesota Wild hasn't won three straight games since mid-November, but Monday night against Columbus, they have the chance to do just that.
So what's behind the sudden two game win streak? It has a lot to do with the new guy in the net, keeping the puck out of the net.
The Wild had lost six in a row and 11 of 13 when they traded for the back-up goalie on one of the worst teams in the league, the Arizona Coyotes. And everything's been great since with two games and two wins.
"That's been one of the best things. Everybody seems excited that I'm here," Devan Dubnyk said.
Goaltender wasn't the Wild's whole issue, but coach Mike Yeo said the new goaltender has had an effect on the team's whole mentality.
"I think the fact that we've won games is a real credit to him. It's kind of noticeable to me that our team has just been able to focus on their own job. And obviously that leads to us playing better in front of our goaltender," Yeo said.
"I don't think I'm a savior of any sort. I think, like I said before, this is a good hockey team that is fully capable of winning lots of hockey games, and fortunately for me, whatever that is, if it was just a subtle change or that loss in Pittsburgh might've sparked them too, and I was lucky enough to get in there afterwards," Dubynk said. "Whatever it is, I'm happy to be a part of it and hoping to continue it going forward."
But before we go getting all excited and feeling like all the sudden the season is saved, the fact is the last two wins both came against two of the only teams in the league with worse records than the Wild. The team is fully aware of that, and knows they need a lot more.
"I don't know how much momentum we have going. We won two games, but there's a lot of other things that we have to make sure that we're focused on," Yeo said. "It's good to win two games, but we've dug ourselves in a pretty deep hole, and I don't think that there's anybody inside of our locker room or around our team that's feeling too good about themselves right now."
Yeo said there's a chance Mikael Granlund will return to the lineup Tuesday night in Detroit. He's been out with a broken wrist.
