Dillon Dube scores shootout winner to lift Flames over Wild
Sitting at the end of the bench, Dillon Dube couldn’t hear his coach call out names, but he kept looking over wanting for his chance in the shootout.
For someone who’d never been in that situation before, Dube came through.
The third-line forward hopped over the boards moments after Flames goalie David Rittich made his sixth save against seven Wild shooters.
«It calmed me down a lot knowing I was going. The game’s not over if you miss, so that relaxes you a lot,» Dube said.
He had no specific plan to beat Alex Stalock.
«You see him, you see what he does to most guys coming straight on. Watch and just react to it,» Dube said.
WATCH | Flames defeat Wild in back-and-forth battle:
Derek Ryan also scored in the shootout for the Flames, 4-0 in tiebreakers this season.
«We basically script the first three or four, and after that it’s just you go by what your gut’s telling you,» Calgary coach Geoff Ward said. «What a move by Dillon. He came out there with a lot of confidence and made a real solid move to get the win.»
Milan Lucic, Travis Hamonic, Michael Stone and Mark Giordano scored for Calgary, 4-5-1 in its last 10 games after winning seven straight during a stretch of nine consecutive outings with at least a point. Rittich finished with 30 saves through overtime.
Marcus Foligno scored twice, and Kevin Fiala and Jordan Greenway also had goals in regulation for Minnesota, which finished 1-2-1 on a four-game homestand by relinquishing a one-goal lead four times. Ryan Donato scored in the shootout for the Wild.
«You can sit there and say, ‘We got a point in back-to-back games,’ and stuff like that. But when we should’ve had two [points], against a team we could’ve caught [in the standings], it’s very frustrating,» said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau.
Minnesota beat Winnipeg 3-2 in overtime Saturday.
Giordano notches equalizer
Giordano scored on a power play with under 6 minutes to go to tie the score 4-4 as his shot from the left circle went off the stick of Wild defenceman Ryan Suter.
Greenway scored at 2:37 of the final period for a 4-3 Wild lead by redirecting a long shot by Jared Spurgeon into the net. The goal came 42 seconds after Stone’s wristshot through traffic tied it 3-3.
Replacing Greenway on Minnesota’s checking line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin for the second straight game, Foligno has responded with three goals and an assist. Foligno was held off the score sheet in eight of his previous nine previous games.
«We want to crash the net. We want to create chances. We’re playing smart. We got our legs going and our heads up too. We’re finding each other,» Foligno said.
Greenway played with Victor Rask and Ryan Hartman on the team’s fourth line.
Foligno scores pair
Tied 2-2 in the final minute of the first period, Foligno crashed the net, and amidst a trio of Calgary players, knocked home a loose puck. It marks his eighth career multi-goal game — first with the Wild — and first since March 2, 2017, for Buffalo.
Foligno put Minnesota up 2-1 midway through the opening period, but Hamonic tied it 5 minutes later with a one-timer from the right dot.
Foligno’s goal came 34 seconds after Lucic tied the game on the power play.
Minnesota has allowed five power-play goals on 12 penalty kills in its past three games. «It’s not that teams are making great plays and beating us. We give pucks away and they put it in the net,» Boudreau said.
