Life with Devan Dubnyk in goal has been good for the Minnesota Wild.
The goaltender, whom the Wild traded for on Jan. 14, will make his 32nd consecutive start for Minnesota Tuesday night against the New York Islanders. Another win would extend Minnesota’s franchise-record road win streak to 10 games.
Why not give him a break?
“I worry about not starting him.” Yeo said to the laughter of surrounding reports, according to the Star Tribune, “Sorry, that’s as honest as I can be.”
Yeo: “I worry about not starting him” on starting Dubnyk on these back-to-backs. WATCH: http://t.co/zzzu0OQaBO #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 24, 2015
It will be the 33rd straight start for Dubnyk overall; the most for any NHL goalie since the 2010-11 season. Beat writer Michael Russo doesn’t expect Dubnyk to get a game off until the Wild clinch a playoff berth.
Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper remain on the roster, but Backstrom hasn’t started since Jan. 13 and Kuemper hasn’t started since Jan. 6. Pro Hockey Talk notes that Yeo doesn’t exactly trust Backstrom or Kuemper for good reason: through 37 games, way back on Jan. 5, the duo had combined for the NHL’s second worst save percentage.
Dubnyk has been a winning machine in Minnesota. He has a 23-6-1 record, 1.74 goals-against average and a .937 save percentage.
Devan Dubnyk improves to 23-6-1 with a 1.74 GAA, .937 SV% & 5 shutouts in 31 starts with the #MNWild.
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 24, 2015
