The Minnesota Wild were playing well, and they had a 2-0 lead in the second period.
But all it took was a careless interference penalty by Matt Dumba and the Vancouver Canucks had life again. The Canucks would score on the power play, then tie the game after another Wild penalty. Minnesota would go on to lose, 5-4, not even getting a point out of a game it once led by two goals.
Per the StarTribune, an irritated head coach, Bruce Boudreau, told reporters that the Wild “don’t have any right to play like that. We’re not leading the league by 20 points or anything like that.”
He’s right. The Wild finished the month of November with a record of 5-6-2, and an overall record of 11-8-3. They’re still in a playoff spot, but Nashville is on their heels for third place in the Central Division, and they wouldn’t have far to fall out of a wild-card spot.
Darcy Kuemper made a rare start against the Canucks and fell victim to some tough bounces, shoddy defending and adept tips. Vancouver’s winning goal was a crazy one, with Troy Stecher’s point shot going way wide, before it hit Sven Baertschi’s skate and ricocheted in.
Expect Devan Dubnyk to start Friday in Calgary and Sunday in Edmonton. The Wild finish their road trip Wednesday in Toronto. Dubnyk will probably start that one too, barring anything unexpected.
But whenever Kuemper (2-2-1, .897) gets the nod again, a bounce-back would be reassuring, from both him and his teammates. Dubnyk can’t win them all for the Wild, and he can’t play them all either.