Jets at Wild
The Minnesota Wild need Devan Dubnyk to play as he did after arriving in a mid-season trade with Arizona in 2014-15 if they want to stay with the crowded pack in the Central Division, especially with Zach Parise lost to a knee injury. Dubnyk figures to start Tuesday, when the Wild wrap up their three-game homestand against the Winnipeg Jets following a stellar 31-save effort in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay.
Dubnyk had allowed 10 goals in his previous three games before blanking the Lightning in the first game for Minnesota since Parise sprained a ligament in his right knee against Nashville two days earlier. “We talked (Saturday) morning about guys stepping up,” Minnesota coach Mike Yeo told reporters. “They didn’t have to be forwards.” The Jets open a four-game road trip – all against division rivals – and that might not be a bad thing considering they were shut out at home Saturday by Philadelphia 3-0 and own a 5-2-1 record away from Manitoba. “We didn’t really sustain much in the offensive zone,” center Blake Wheeler told the media after the Jets were blanked for the first time this season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), FSN North (Minneapolis)
ABOUT THE JETS (8-5-2): Offensive production has not been a problem most nights for Winnipeg, which has scored three or more goals nine times in 15 games and averages 2.8 per contest. The top line of Wheeler, captain Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little has combined for 14 goals and 39 points, but the team has sputtered on the power play of late, going 0-for-12 in its last four games. During that stretch, the Jets have allowed 12 goals, coming away with just three of a possible eight points.
ABOUT THE WILD (8-3-2): Yeo put Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville together Saturday, and that line played well - with Coyle and Pominville assisted on the game’s lone goal - as the Wild try to compensate for the loss of Parise’s team-leading seven tallies. Dubnyk, who posted a 1.78 goals-against average while going 27-9-2 in 39 games with Minnesota last season, lowered his GAA to 2.41 while raising his save percentage to .907 with Saturday’s shutout. Defenseman Nate Prosser did not play against Tampa Bay and is day-to-day after injuring his back on Thursday.
OVERTIME
1. Winnipeg won its first meeting of the season with Minnesota on Oct. 25, racing to a four-goal lead before holding on for a 5-4 home triumph.
2. Minnesota assigned C Christoph Bertschy to Iowa of the American Hockey League after he saw 8:08 of ice time in his NHL debut Saturday.
3. Jets C Patrice Cormier and D Paul Postma made their season debuts Saturday, as LW Nic Petan missed the game with an illness and D Ben Chiarot was a healthy scratch.