Wild's Dubnyk has fond memories of Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Devan Dubnyk walked into First Niagara Center on Friday before practice, and the first thing he thought about was all that has happened since last year's Jan. 14 trade that caused him to sprint to Buffalo and effectively save the Wild's season.

With the Wild crumbling in part due to poor goaltending, the Wild acquired Dubnyk from the Arizona Coyotes. He hopped on a Phoenix-to-JFK red-eye, then connected to Buffalo for an arrival about 8 a.m. on game day.

"I was in a bit of a fog. I tried to sleep 45 minutes after I got here, which was probably a bad idea," Dubnyk said, laughing. "I saw most the guys at breakfast, came over to the rink, got all the equipment good, tried to find some sort of routine, but it was an interesting pregame skate because of the new shooters. It was a whirlwind of a day."

The Wild won 7-0 that night.

"I made sure everybody knew how tired I was so they made sure to go out and get me seven goals of run support," Dubnyk said, jokingly.

Dubnyk started 38 consecutive games after arriving, never lost consecutive games in regulation, went 15-2-1 on the road and 27-9-2 overall with a 1.78 goals-against average, .936 save percentage and five shutouts.

That earned him the Masterton Trophy, a third-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting and a fourth-place finish in Hart Trophy voting.

He was rewarded with a six-year, $26 million contract.

"It's unbelievable because so much has happened it just feels like it's been such a long period of time, it feels like years and years when you think about how much has gone on," Dubnyk said. "Hopefully there's lots more good stuff to come."

Saturday, Dubnyk made 30 saves in a 3-2 shootout win over the Sabres, including a game-saving stop in overtime on Evander Kane.

"It's weird. You see the play developing and the puck's at the far goal line and I already know I'm going to get a breakaway, so you have to not come flying out and just let it happen," Dubnyk said. "He's got a ton of speed, so you just try to match it."

Coach John Torchetti said he had a "blast" coaching his first 3-on-3 overtime Saturday. In the shootout, Torchetti said he always lets his assistants pick the shooters.

Andrew Brunette was assigned that task and for the first time, Zach Parise wasn't thrown out second after Mikko Koivu. Parise went third and Charlie Coyle second. Coyle tied the shootout at 1-1 with his third career goal. Jason Pominville went fourth and won it.

"It's nice. It kind of gives you confidence and you just try to take advantage," Coyle said.

• Winger Jason Zucker returned after missing six games because of a concussion. He assumed his normal spot on the Mikael Granlund-Thomas Vanek line and took a couple of big licks. He said he had no ill effects from them.

Wingers Chris Porter and Justin Fontaine were scratched, as was defenseman Nate Prosser.