Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 2, Flames 1 (SO)

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 2-1 shootout win against the Calgary Flames at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Tuesday night:

1. Alex Stalock entered in relief of an injured Devan Dubnyk at the start of the second period and made 16 saves through regulation and overtime, then four more in the shootout.
First, there was no
update
on Dubnyk after the game. Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said he learned of a potential issue during the first television timeout in the first period. Dubnyk alerted Stalock to be ready just in case.
At the intermission, Dubnyk went back for observation and trainers decided to use caution.
"To have an intermission is always nice when you get to go in you get the time to warm up and mentally get into it," Stalock said. "Early on in the second, they had a couple of weird chances where kind of thank God they hit me. It's hard to get into a game like that."
Although Dubnyk's time between the posts was brief, it was no day at the beach. The Flames peppered him with 10 shots, including several grade-A chances, and without Dubnyk playing well, it's likely the Flames jump out to an early lead.

"He was good because we weren't in the first period," Boudreau said. "I think we struggled the whole game, quite frankly. It was one of those games where you come back off the West Coast and you play right away and nobody seemed to have any energy whatsoever."
The only goal Stalock allowed was a slapper from the point with 1:03 left in the second period. He also surrendered a goal to Johnny Gaudreau in the first round of the shootout, but came back with four saves, including one on Micheal Ferland after Mikael Granlund scored for Minnesota, to close out the win.

"It's amazing how many times a backup goalie comes in in a game and shuts the other team down," Boudreau said. "I'm amazed."
2. The Wild has been really good in bonus time of late.
Ever since Minnesota changed its overtime strategy last month, beginning the extra session with two defensemen and one forward, the Wild has been outstanding beyond regulation.
Minnesota lost its first three games that had gone into overtime or the shootout this season (two overtimes, one shootout) but has now won its past five post-regulation chances, including victories in each of its past three games and four of its past five overall.
"It all evens out in the end," Boudreau said.
The overtime period on Tuesday was high tempo, as both teams traded chances in each other's end. Minnesota's best chance to win it before the shootout came when Eric Staal fed Ryan Suter with a great pass and a short break. From the 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' department, Suter plagiarized the patented Mikko Koivu forehand-backhand maneuver©, but slipped the shot just over the crossbar and into the netting.
Stalock finished with three saves in overtime, then was stellar in the shootout.

The Wild got shootout goals from Chris Stewart (who else?) in round two and Granlund in round five, sending the home crowd away happy.

Stewart is now 2-for-2 in the shootout this season and 11-for-26 in his career (42.3 percent).
"I went over to that corner and he said, 'When am I going: 1, 2, or 3?'" Boudreau said of Stewart. "I figured I've got to put him in then."
3. Matt Cullen scored his 250th NHL goal.
The Flames came out firing, putting more than half a dozen shots on goal before Minnesota got its first, just past the halfway point of the first period.
Calgary also drew a pair of power plays. The Wild killed them both, and moments after the second one, Minnesota took the lead.
Ryan Murphy, the guilty party of the Wild's second penalty, exited the box and entered the offensive zone with speed. He got the puck back to the point to Ryan Suter, who ripped a shot toward Flames goaltender Mike Smith. Joel Eriksson Ek got a couple of whacks at it before Cullen cleaned up the loose puck with a backhand shot at 17:15.

It was the 41-year-old's second goal of the season and first since Nov. 2 (a span of 17 games). Cullen now has 35 career goals in a Wild uniform, to go with the 72 he had with Carolina, 65 with Anaheim, 29 with Pittsburgh, 17 with Nashville, 16 with the New York Rangers, 12 with Florida and four with Ottawa.
"It's always nice to contribute," Cullen said. "It was a tight game. It wasn't a pretty game. A huge two points for us."
Cullen (Virginia) ranks fifth among Minnesota-born players in goals in the NHL, seven clear of Jamie Langenbrunner (Cloquet) and 39 behind Neal Broten (Roseau). Dave Christian (Warroad) is the state's all-time leader with 340 goals.

Loose pucks

• Suter and Eriksson Ek earned assists on Cullen's goal.
• Gaudreau and Mark Giordano had assists for the Flames.
• Calgary outshot Minnesota 27-22.
• The Wild's penalty killing unit went 3-for-3.
• Suter blocked a team-best four shots.
• Dubnyk started his 100th home game as a member of the Wild (194th overall).
• Attendance: 18,767

He said it

"We were kind of on our heels. Sometimes that happens when you come off the West Coast swing. We just had a hard time getting our legs going, but I thought that we dug down when we needed it." -- Wild forward Matt Cullen

They said it

"From start to finish I thought we were pretty solid all the way through. I think we came out the first 10 minutes and kind of dictated the pace of play. They're a tough team and in this building they don't give you much. We had some chances there that we'd like to see us capitalize on but at least the chances are there, we're getting them, we just gotta start putting them in the net, but as far as the effort there, it was a big point." -- Flames goaltender Mike Smith

Three stars

* Alex Stalock
\\ Mikael Granlund
\\* Dougie Hamilton