Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 4, Stars 0

Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 4-0 win against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center:

1. Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk is on some kind of roll.
After shutout victories in both Boston and Buffalo to conclude Minnesota's four-game road trip, Dubnyk brought his great play home with him, stopping all 29 shots he faced for his third consecutive shutout.
It was the first time in Dubnyk's career that he's earned a shutout in three-straight games. During the third period on Saturday, Dubnyk also surpassed his previous long of 166:49 without allowing a goal which he set in 2013 as a member of the Edmonton Oilers.
"It was a long 35 seconds," Dubnyk said of the final moments of the game. "Usually, when it gets to a 4-0 game, you're happy with the win. If the shutout happens, great, but you don't really get nervous. That was probably the first time I've started to be nervous at the end of a 4-0 game."

Dubnyk also made a bit of team history, besting Darcy Kuemper's individual Wild record of 163:46 set in October of 2014 and the overall team record of 178:52, set last season.
"It's fun. It's definitely an accomplishment to be proud of for all of us," Dubnyk said. "You don't get shutouts by yourself, you get shutouts with guys doing a lot of good stuff in front of me, allowing me to reads, some great sticks and blocks and it all adds up."
That makes five consecutive games of outstanding play for Dubnyk, who has allowed four goals total over that stretch.

"Touch wood, but I've never been in a situation where they've had three shutouts in a row," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "He's looking very confident out there. Don't know if he can do it for 73 more games, but right now, he's doing very well."
2. Mikael Granlund got the Wild on the board with a short-handed goal in the first period.
After a slashing penalty on Ryan Suter, Granlund and Mikko Koivu worked a nice give-and-go through neutral, with Koivu feeding Granlund as they entered the Dallas zone. Granlund made a quick move at the net and beat Kari Lehtonen with a forehand shot for his first goal of the season.
"It was great. From a dead stop too," Boudreau said. "It wasn't that the puck was coming around the boards and they tipped it by him. They knocked the puck out of the air and from a dead stop, you could see those guys take off. I thought it was a beautiful play."

With Zach Parise on the shelf for the foreseeable future (more on that below), the Wild will need Granlund to help carry the scoring load. Like he did last spring against the Stars in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Granlund looked good against the Stars.
Often times, the first goal of the season is the toughest one to score. Now that he has one under his belt, Granlund will try and get in an offensive groove moving forward.
3. The Wild announced before the game that Parise and Marco Scandella are week-to-week because of lower-body injuries.
Tough to spin this news. Parise is one of the Wild's most accomplished goal scorers while Scandella possesses the Wild's best blend of size, skill and grit on the back end.
While the Wild will certainly miss Parise's ability to put the puck in the net, the silver lining -- at least so far -- has been Minnesota's balanced scoring attack. Even Tyler Graovac and Christoph Bertschy, added to the roster on Saturday, have at least one point (Graovac scored his first NHL goal in the third period on Saturday).
Granlund's goal means that every forward (other than Bertschy) has scored at least one goal.
The Wild has had an NHL-best 18 different players score at least one goal in the first nine games. Minnesota will need that balanced effort to continue if it wants to pick up the slack with Parise out of the lineup.
"Any time you have regular guys, a couple of real good players for you, out, you want to collectively have the group respond and have guys fill in in the right areas. We got that tonight," said Wild forward Eric Staal. "I liked the way that we continued to play the game and had a great third period and got the job done."

Loose Pucks

• Staal, who turned 32 years old on Saturday, celebrated in style, ripping home a one-timer short side with the Wild on the power play, giving Minnesota a 3-0 lead at 10:54 of the third period. It was Staal's fourth goal.

• Recalled from Iowa earlier in the day, Graovac scored his first NHL goal with 7:23 remaining in the third period. Counting his final two games in the American Hockey League, Graovac now has four goals in his last three games played.

• For Bertschy, also recalled from Iowa on Saturday, his assist on Graovac's goal was his first NHL point.
• Ryan Suter assisted on Staal's power-play goal, extending his point streak to three games. Suter has three goals and seven assists in nine games to start the season.
• Minnesota killed all three Dallas power plays and now stands at a League-best 95.7 percent on the kill this season.
• Wild forward Zac Dalpe left with a lower-body injury in the second period and did not return.
• Graovac and Bertschy were
reassigned
to Iowa following the game.
• Attendance: 19,031

He Said It

"Just pure emotions and chills, a feeling I've never really had before. It was a lot more than just a goal for me. It was just a great accomplishment for me and my family. Your first NHL goal, it's something I've dreamed of. I know I had a lot of family watching that game. It's not just me scoring that goal, it's my aunts, my uncles, my grandmother, my parents back home. It's just something very special we can all enjoy." -- Wild forward Tyler Graovac on scoring his first NHL goal

They Said It

"We didn't give up a lot [after the first period goal], dominated the second period, had a couple of pucks go off the post that didn't go in. Their goaltender is seeing the puck pretty well right now and we didn't have a lot of puck luck when it came to being around the net." -- Stars head coach Lindy Ruff

Three Stars

* Devan Dubnyk
\\ Mikael Granlund
\\* Tyler Graovac