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Leading NHL in saves, Wild’s Dubynk ‘has been our world right now’

ST. PAUL — Anyone who knows Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk knows he never thinks about carrying the team on his back.

“I don’t do that,” he said. “I just go out there and focus on the things I need to do.”

Whether Dubnyk sees it or not, that has translated to carrying the team on his back. While the Wild have been slow out of the starting blocks, Dubnyk is in midseason form.

The Wild are 2-2-2 heading into Friday night’s 7 p.m. puck drop at Dallas, but Dubnyk boasts a .940 save percentage and leads the NHL with 187 saves. When added to his 2.32 goals-against average, it’s a little shocking that he only has a 2-1-2 record.

“It was nice to see him get rewarded,” coach Bruce Boudreau said after Tuesday’s 2-1 over the Arizona Coyotes. “When we’re watching the NHL Network, they don’t mention him because his numbers aren’t this or that or whatever. He has been our world right now.”

It’s hard to argue with that assessment. Just peep Dubnyk’s game logs through five games.

He made 36 saves in a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the season opener, a pair of empty-net goals making the game look more lopsided than it was. A couple of days later he made 41 saves to help the salvage a point in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Golden Knights. After making 27 saves in a 4-3 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks, a modest effort by his standards this season, he made 52 saves in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

One could make the argument that without Dubnyk, the Wild might not have any points.

“He’s saved us a lot of points already this season,” winger Mikael Granlund said. “He’s been unbelievably good. Hopefully we can help him out a little bit at some point. That said, we will obviously take those kinds of nights from him all the time. He’s been doing a really good job.”

After another strong performance Tuesday, Dubnyk admitted it was nice to get rewarded for a solid effort.

“I’ve learned that winning is very difficult in this league, so every single one is very enjoyable,” he said. “It stings that much more losing in overtime or tying it late and losing in a shootout. Those hurt. To be able to hang on feels really good.”

“It’s building,” Dubnyk added. “It’s continuing to get better each game. Obviously, we’re going into a tough building on Friday and that’s going to be our next important test.”

It’s likely Dubnyk will be between the pipes against the Stars, and the rest of the team aims to help him.

“That’s what we hope,” center Eric Staal said. “I think we’re getting closer to our style and closer to our game. I think our execution can still get better. It’s getting better.

“We are spending more time in the offensive zone. I think we’re making the plays that we need to. We are making better decisions with the puck in the blue. All the detailed parts of the game that we’re so good at for most of all year last season. It’s just getting up to speed and it’s improving daily. You want to make sure that snowballs.”

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