Fontaine, Dubnyk Help Wild To 3-1 Win Over Avalanche
DENVER (AP) — Justin Fontaine broke a second-period tie, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 33 shots, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.
Erik Haula and Jason Pominville also scored for the Wild, who improved to 4-0 against Colorado this season. They have outscored the Avalanche 12-1.
Dubnyk started his 20th straight game since joining the Wild in a trade with Arizona on Jan. 15 and improved to 15-3-1. The consecutive starts match the Wild goalie record set by Niklas Backstrom in 2009.
Maxime Talbot had a goal in a game that had big playoff ramifications for the Avalanche.
Semyon Varlamov started his 19th straight game and fell to 9-8-2 during the stretch.
Pominville gave the Wild a 3-1 lead some breathing room by launching a liner over Varlamov's glove 5:50 into the third period. It was his 13th goal of the season.
Varlamov was pulled with just over four minutes remaining for an extra skater. Nate Prosser drew a high-sticking penalty with 3:17 remaining, giving the Avs a 6-on-4 advantage, but they couldn't get anything by Dubnyk.
Kyle Brodziak scored what appeared to be an empty-net goal when he tried to clear the puck from his zone with 15.6 seconds left. But a video review determined that Brodziak struck the puck with a high stick.
It took a fortuitous break early in the second period for the Avalanche to finally score on the Wild this season. Talbot was credited with the goal when he shot the puck and it lodged under Dubnyk's skate as the goalie fell to the ice.
As Cody McLeod skated toward him, Dubnyk put his skate across the goal line. The officials didn't immediately rule a goal, but counted it after a video review. It was Colorado's first goal on the Wild this season in 201 minutes, 32 seconds.
Minnesota quickly responded, with Fontaine taking a cross-ice pass from Haula and beating Varlamov with a wrist shot.
The Avalanche had their chances later in the second with a 5-on-3 power play, but Dubnyk turned back everything sent his way.
Haula scored the first goal of the game when he banked a shot off the pads of Varlamov from behind the net. It was Haula's second straight game with a goal.
Colorado coach Patrick Roy's use of Nathan MacKinnon has been curious since the teenager's hat trick last Sunday. MacKinnon didn't play late in the game at Dallas on Friday and was dropped to the fourth line against Minnesota.
Before the game, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said he doesn't expect to be all that active before Monday's NHL trade deadline. He wants to keep his young core of players together.
"We're not going to go out and try to acquire somebody for our run," Sakic said.
NOTES: Haula and Fontaine each had an assist. ... Avalanche F Matt Duchene played in his 400th NHL game. ... Asked if he was thinking about possibly dealing F Ryan O'Reilly, Sakic responded: "I don't want to trade Ryan. The plan right now? No. Never say never. I don't believe anybody is untouchable." Sakic hopes to work out a long-term deal with O'Reilly in the offseason.
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