Dubnyk makes 25 saves for Wild in shutout of Lightning

TAMPA -- Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves for the Minnesota Wild, and Jason Zucker had a hat trick in a 3-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

Minnesota (33-27-8), which is 6-0-2 in its past eight games, leads the Colorado Avalanche by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference and trails the Dallas Stars by one point for the first wild card.
"For whatever reason, we certainly seem to play our best against the best teams," Dubnyk said. "You could see tonight from start to finish we were extremely focused and determined. Everything they got or tried to get, they were forced to make plays. That's how you have to play that team, because if you give them opportunities, it's going to get ugly for you."
WATCH: [All Wild vs. Lightning highlights]
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for the Lightning (51-13-4), who lost for the second time in their past 14 games. Tampa Bay leads the Boston Bruins by 15 points for first place in the Eastern Conference.
"You just have to stay within the system," Lightning forward Tyler Johnson said. "We know we are a good team and we are going to get those chances, but I thought for parts of the game, we kind of got away from what we wanted to do."
Zucker gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 10:50 of the first period with a redirection of a shot by Ryan Donato.

"I'm just trying to work hard, that's all it is," said Zucker, who has six goals in his past six games. "My linemates (Donato or Jordan Greenway with center Eric Staal) are playing great, and we're just trying to be a cohesive unit."
Zucker made it 2-0 at 6:04 of the third period when he batted the puck out of midair after Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman blocked Donato's shot. Referee Steve Kozari initially ruled that Zucker's stick was above the crossbar, but the on-ice officials huddled and ruled it a good goal, a call that was confirmed by the Situation Room after video review.
"I was pretty sure (it was a good goal), but then once he called it off, I was a little bit skeptical," Zucker said. "I thought I waited long enough, and I was hoping I was right."

Lightning forward Adam Erne left the game after injuring his right hand or arm blocking a Zucker shot in the sequence leading to the goal.
Zucker got his second NHL hat trick, first since Nov. 9, 2017, when he scored into an empty net at 18:14 for the 3-0 final.

"[The Wild] are a very well-coached team, a very disciplined team," Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Girardi. "They didn't turn many pucks over, they clogged up the neutral zone. When we got pucks deep, we were very successful and had some offensive-zone time. But we tried to force some plays just inside the blue line, turnovers that fueled their rush."
Dubnyk made a sprawling save against Anthony Cirelli on a breakaway at 6:44 of the second period.
"I almost changed my mind at the end because he cut to the middle, but I already committed to it," Dubnyk said. "It's just about timing, that one. It's a left-handed shot coming down that side. ... It helps having a 10-foot wingspan when I spread out, so as long as I time it properly and I'm willing to take a shin pad to the forehead once in a while, it usually works."

They said it

"From what I could tell, guys are sick of being down, guys get sick of losing. Now that we're on kind of a winning streak, maybe a loss here and there, the guys are riding the wave, staying high as possible, staying positive as possible, and I think that brings us a better mentality heading into the games." -- Wild forward Ryan Donato, who was acquired in a trade from the Bruins on Feb. 20
"You play the regular season to play in the playoffs and to make sure by the time you get to the playoffs that your game is in order. I've liked the way we've played for most of the year. You are not going to win them all. It was a little frustrating tonight because we needed to kind of dumb down our game tonight and we didn't do it, and that fed right into them." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

The Lightning needed a win or a loss in overtime or the shootout to have a chance to become the first NHL team to clinch a berth in the playoffs. … Wild forward Luke Kunin left the game with an upper-body injury at 7:55 of the second period after a hit by Lightning forward Cedric Paquette. ... Minnesota has allowed two goals or fewer in seven of its past eight games. … Staal has two goals and eight assists during an eight-game point streak. … Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov had 12 shot attempts but five shots on goal.

What's next

Wild: At the Florida Panthers on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-F, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-D, NHL.TV)