Devan Dubnyk's resurgence has Wild thinking playoffs

Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk has a greater appreciation of the best season of his NHL career because it followed a summer of discontent.

Dubnyk, 27, was forced into soul-searching at the end of the 2013-14 season after being moved from the Edmonton Oilers to the Nashville Predators and finally to the Montreal Canadiens who didn't offer to bring him back. He had gone from being the No. 1 goalie in Edmonton to being a minor leaguer at the end of last season.

"It's scary when you have played five years in the NHL and then you realize how quickly it can be taken away from you," Dubnyk told USA TODAY Sports.

After finding himself jobless at the start of last summer, Dubnyk has re-emerged as the flag carrier for a Wild team that has climbed from the back of the pack to challenge for a playoff spot.

Since being acquired by Minnesota from the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 14, Dubnyk has posted a 14-3-1 record with a 1.68 goals-against average and .934 save percentage. Those are some of the best numbers in the NHL over that period.

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"Dubnyk gives them a chance to compete every night," NBC analyst Pierre McGuire said. "That gives the players the energy to want to take their collective game to another level."

The Wild were four places and eight points out of a playoff spot when they acquired Dubnyk, and now they are one point ahead for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

"He's really had impact on the ice and with the other players," said Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher.

The Wild ranked 29th in the NHL with a save percentage below .900 when Dubnyk was acquired. The Wild's goaltending had been undermined by injuries for two seasons, and it was clear Fletcher needed to do something to give his team a chance to climb back into contention.

What Fletcher remembers about that period was that he discovered quickly "that we didn't have a lot of options."

Not many teams are looking to move a goaltender three months into a season.

Fletcher said he felt fortunate that the Coyotes were open to the trade because they were looking to give Mike Smith the opportunity to rediscover his goaltending magic. Smith was the team's No. 1, but he struggled early and that opened the door for Dubnyk to play. He impressed, but the Coyotes wanted Smith to play all of the time.

Minnesota Wild goaltending coach Bob Mason had recommended the Wild look at Dubnyk the season before when the Wild first started to be overrun by goalie injuries.

"And (Dubnyk) was in our conference so I had seen a lot of him," Fletcher said.

Although Dubnyk's stats had been poor in 2013-14, his career save percentage had been respectable when he was Edmonton's No. 1 goalie. He has posted a .920 save percentage in 2012-13, which was far superior to Minnesota's save percentage before the trade.

"Going into the year, the goal was to create an opportunity for some time down the road," Dubnyk said. "I wasn't sure when that would be, if it would be a year from now or two years from now. To have the opportunity to come to Minnesota and do it halfway through the season was more than I could have hoped for."

Unquestionably, Dubnyk has played some of the best hockey of his career since the trade. In one five-game span that started in late January, he stopped 130 of the 133 shots he faced. That's a crazy-good .977 save percentage.

He posted nine shutouts in his first 192 NHL games, and now has five shutouts in his first 19 games with the Wild.

The Wild's confidence level has spiked dramatically upward since Dubnyk claimed the starter's job.

"It's been a lot of fun," said Dubnyk. "We are playing every other day, and (we) enter every game the game knowing we are going to win the game. You can feel that throughout the entire room."

In hindsight, Dubnyk is thankful that the Coyotes gave him a chance because he wasn't sure anyone would. The Montreal Canadiens had sent him to the American League after they acquired him last season

"I didn't know where I would end up or even if there was going to be a spot for me anywhere," Dubnyk recalled.

NHL goalies always have less job security than defensemen and forwards because there are only 60 goaltending jobs in the league. Traditionally, there is always a couple or a few NHL goalies left without work when all of the contracts are given out.

"When Arizona called, it was a team that was familiar with me," Dubnyk said. "I had played lots of games against them. They knew me as a goalie and a person and it was a perfect fit."

But the fit has been even more perfect in Minnesota where Dubnyk has played like a star.

"When I got to Minnesota I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself and think that I had to come in and be a savior," Dubnyk told USA TODAY Sports. "I was familiar with the team and knew it was a really good hockey team that was eventually going to play the way they were capable of. I just wanted to be sharp and be solid. I knew that's all I needed to do."

He was correct in that assessment. The Wild have followed his lead and played their best hockey alongside Dubnyk.

"We have just played some incredible hockey," Dubnyk said. "We've won games in every way imaginable. When you have everybody from top to bottom pitching in…it's a great feeling. We just all feel like we are going to go in there and get the two points."

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