Ducks started against the Red Wings

ST. PAUL Authentic Cooper Kupp Jersey , Minn. (AP) The Minnesota Wild made sure the bad news didn’t defeat them.Their season-ending road trip sure feels a little lighter now, with a spot in the playoffs secure.Zach Parise scored twice and Devan Dubnyk made 22 saves to blank his original team, pushing the Wild past the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Monday night.”I hope it makes them feel good about themselves,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. ”I thought our defense was good.”With 98 points, matching the fourth-most in franchise history, the Wild did their part. Then Los Angeles chipped in with a victory about 2 1/2 hours later over Colorado that took the pressure off Minnesota’s last three games, at Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose. The Wild are nearly locked into third place in the Central Division and a first-round matchup with Winnipeg.”I don’t know how all this math works out,” Boudreau said, before leaving the arena to watch the conclusion of the Avalanche-Kings game at home. ”I just wake up in the morning and hope to see an `X’ by the name.”Playing for the first time in nearly three years without stalwart defenseman Ryan Suter, the Wild wrapped up their home schedule with a staggering 21-3 shots advantage in the third period. Joel Eriksson Ek added an empty-net goal as the Wild finished 27-6-8 at Xcel Energy Center, the second-best home record in the league.With rookies Nick Seeler and Carson Soucy, in his NHL debut no less, playing key roles on the blue line, the Wild put together a postseason-caliber performance.”You need different people to step up and do important things, and that’s going to be the case for us,” Dubnyk said. ”That was a good look.”Cam Talbot made 37 saves for the Oilers, who lost their fifth straight game and ensured a sub-80-point finish for the eighth time in the last nine years.”The finish line is non-rewarding. You fall behind, you feel like you don’t get a break, you miss a net or something like that, it takes a little bit more out of you,” coach Todd McLellan said. ”We should be more resilient. We’re not right now.”Parise has been a big part of the push. The Wild are 24-9-7 with him in the lineup Cooper Kupp Jersey Elite , after he missed the first 39 games of the season recovering from back surgery. Playing next to Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund has given him a clear boost.”As a group, we’re meshing really well together,” Parise said.The Wild scored the first goal for the first time in seven games, when Parise snagged a bouncing puck at his own blue line that Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson was struggling to control with his skates and broke loose on an unabated path to the net. He snapped a shot though Talbot’s pads just 3:33 into the contest.Dubnyk then went to work on his fifth shutout of the season, making some difficult saves, including a denial of NHL points leader Connor McDavid’s attempt with his right leg.Parise provided some padding when he swooped into position to knock in a rebound of Jonas Brodin’s attempt before the midpoint of the second period.Making the 400th start of his NHL career against the club that drafted him in the first round in 2004, Dubnyk recorded his 133rd win for the Wild since they acquired him in a trade on Jan. 14, 2015. No goalie in the league has played in more games (230) or pitched more shutouts (20) since then.Edmonton won the first two meetings with Minnesota this season, with McDavid registering two goals and two assists, but after the breakthrough in 2016-17 the Oilers have tumbled back down the Western Conference standings. They’re 17-23-4 since the Christmas break.Talbot was pulled at Calgary on Saturday night after only 11 1/2 minutes, after allowing three goals on seven shots, but McLellan stuck with him and was rewarded with his highest save total in nine appearances since he stopped 40 shots at Florida on March 17.”We definitely had opportunities to make this a good road trip,” said left wing Milan Lucic, ”but we didn’t do it in Vancouver when we had a real good start the way that we did. We didn’t do it in Calgary and once again here.”NOTES: Parise has at least one point in seven straight games and 12 goals over his last 19 games, the third-most in the league since March 1. … Oilers defensemen Andrej Sekera and Yohann Auvitu were each injured in the second period and didn’t return. … With Suter’s absence, center Eric Staal became the Wild’s new ironman by playing in his 161st consecutive contest. He has not missed a game since joining the team prior to last season.UP NEXTOilers: Host Vegas on Thursday.Wild: Play at Anaheim on Wednesday.— Injuries and rehabilitations have forced the Anaheim Ducks to insert several rookies into their lineup during the first week of the season, but they’re off to one of their best starts in franchise history heading into their fourth game Wednesday night against the visiting Arizona Coyotes at Honda Center.The Ducks (3-0-0) have already defeated the Coyotes this season, getting outshot 41-20 in Phoenix on Saturday night but holding on for a 1-0 victory behind exceptional play from goaltender John Gibson, who has saved 91 of 95 shots this season (.958).“He’s been our MVP for the three games,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said after Gibson made 19 saves in a 3-2 shootout win over the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. “You don’t have a starting point in the NHL if you don’t have goaltending.”Article continues below ...The Coyotes (0-2-0) are still looking for their first goal of the season after losing 3-0 at the Dallas Stars in their season opener on Thursday and then getting blanked by Anaheim.Arizona coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after practice Tuesday that his team needs to quit taking shortcuts during practice. He cited an example of players not following up their shots and pursuing rebounds.“As a player, when you do drills, finish the drill http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/cooper-kupp-jersey ,” he said. “If you do the right things, good things will happen. I’m a big believer, if you’re taking shortcuts, then it’s hard to get out of a slump.”Arizona was the second lowest scoring team in the NHL last season at 2.51 goals per game. The Coyotes traded center Max Domi to the Montreal Canadiens in June for center Alex Galchenyuk, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2012.Galchenyuk sustained a lower-body injury late last month and isn’t expected to be in uniform against Anaheim. Domi, a top-three point producer for Arizona the past three seasons, already has three assists in his first two games with Montreal. Coyotes forwards Derek Stepan and Richard Panik found room to shoot against the Ducks last weekend. Stepan had nine shots on goal and Panik had seven, but neither could get one past Gibson.“We can get a better will to get to the net,” Tocchet said. “We’re getting pushed to the side a little bit. I think we’re passing up some shots, even though we’re getting some shots.”Max Comtois is one of the five rookie forwards that the Ducks started against the Red Wings on Monday. He had an assist to give him a point in each of his first three NHL games.The only other rookie in franchise history to accomplish that feat was Corey Perry in 2005-06.“This is baptism by fire for young players,” Carlyle said. “We have our ample share of them in the lineup, but these are situations, hopefully, where they can grow and get more confidence.“Hats off to them. We put them in situations, historically, they would play in lower levels. This is the best league in the world. They were in there and survived, so hopefully they feel good about themselves.”Jakob Silfverberg is also off to a hot start for the Ducks. He has five points (one goal, four assists), becoming the first Anaheim player with five points in the first three games since Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler in 2014.