Sabres at Wild
Devan Dubnyk has scribbled his name in the Minnesota Wild record book on a number of occasions, the latest coming after he recorded his third consecutive shutout. Named the NHL's Second Star of the Week, Dubnyk carries a 181-minute, 43-second shutout streak into Tuesday's contest as the Wild attempt to complete a season sweep of the visiting Buffalo Sabres.
"I don't know if he can do it for 73 more games, but right now he's doing very well," Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said after Dubnyk's 29-save performance in a 4-0 win over Dallas improved the goaltender's mark to 5-1-1 with a stingy 1.43 goals-against average this season. The 30-year-old Saskatchewan native has turned aside all 94 shots he faced during his shutout streak, including 38 in a 4-0 rout at Buffalo on Thursday to improve to 3-1-0 with two blankings and a 1.24 GAA in his career versus the Sabres. Buffalo's shutout at the hands of Dubnyk and Minnesota resulted in its fourth straight loss, but Kyle Okposo has helped the club bounce back with a pair of victories. The 28-year-old Minnesota native scored in the Sabres' 3-0 victory over Florida on Saturday and tallied twice the following night in a 3-1 win at Winnipeg.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, MSG-B (Buffalo), FSN North-Plus (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE SABRES (3-3-2): The charges against Evander Kane will be dropped if the forward can stay out legal troubles until March 30, according to a court settlement on Monday. Kane faced four counts of non-criminal harassment, one count of disorderly conduct and a count of misdemeanor trespass after a June 24 incident at Buffalo-based bar Bottoms Up, in which three women said they were grabbed by Kane and a male bouncer said he tried to fight him. The 25-year-old Kane has been limited to just one game this season after sustaining rib injuries following a collision into the boards.
ABOUT THE WILD (6-2-1-): Ryan Suter highlighted his three-game point streak with a goal and an assist versus the Sabres in the first meeting. The 31-year-old Wisconsin native has recorded 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 12 career encounters with Buffalo, while captain Mikko Koivu has 10 (three goals, seven assists) in the same span after tallying on Thursday. Pesky Jason Zucker also scored versus the Sabres and set up a goal against the Stars to extend his point streak to three games (two goals, three assists).
OVERTIME
1. All eight of Buffalo's power-play goals this season have been scored by the top unit of LW Matt Moulson (four), RW Ryan O'Reilly (two), Okposo (one) and D Sam Reinhart (one).
2. Minnesota has thwarted 25 of 26 short-handed situations this season.
3. Six of Sabres D Rasmus Ristolainen's seven assists have come on the power play.