ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Wild continued their march towards the playoffs with a shootout victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Wild got on the board first with a power-play goal by Nino Niederreiter early in the second period. The goal was Niederreiter's team leading 18th goal of the season. Mikeal Granlund and Jason Pominville both had assists on the goal.

The Lightning tied it up later in the second with an unfortunate deflection by Lightning center Brayden Point. Point deflected the puck between Wild defense-men Nate Prosser's legs and somehow slipped through goaltender Devin Dubnky's pads.

Both goaltenders were perfect the rest of the way until the shootout. The only goal scorer in the shootout was Mikko Koivu.

The Wild would have won the game in regulation if it wasn't for the incredible net-minding by Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning goalie finished with 37 saves on 38 shots.

Dubnyk finished with 26 saves on 27 shots and stopped all three shots in the shoot-out. The win is his league leading 30th of the season. Dubnyk now leads the NHL in wins, save percentage, and goals against average (GAA).

Next up for the Wild is a home contest with the Detroit Red Wings Sunday Afternoon.

 

 

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