By Jordan Long
The Minnesota Wild sit at 17-15-3 with 37 points, 2 points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the 2nd Wild Card spot. They are going to make a playoff push without defenseman Matt Dumba. Dumba has been out since December 15th but now will miss at least 3 months. He had surgery to repair a ruptured right pectoralis muscle.
Dumba is the top scoring defenseman for the Wild. On full strength he blocks shots from his goaltender. Those blocks often create offensive chances for the Wild. Dumba hits opponents so the Wild can gain possession of the puck, allowing them to skate to the other end.
When Dumba skates into the offensive zone, he will use his slap shot for scoring opportunities. If he doesn’t score, a teammate is there for the rebound to put it past the goaltender. Dumba can find his teammates for wide open shots at the net. He has 12 goals and 10 assists for a total of 22 points.
On the power play, he sets up near the blue line. He waits until his teammates are in front of the goalie before firing the puck. Those screen the goaltender and the puck can sneak past for a goal or it creates tip-ins. Dumba has 6 goals and 6 assists on the man advantage.
This is a huge blow for the Wild. With Dumba out Ryan Suter’s play must step-up. He is not as much of a scoring defenseman as Dumba, but can still help this team. Suter totaled 4 goals and 22 assists for total of 26 points so far this year. His goal total has to improve during this stretch that Dumba is out. He must find the back of the net more often.
Minnesota has to keep pace with the Oilers for the last playoff spot in the West. They know it is difficult to do with Dumba out. Other defensemen need to improve their game and they can’t allow teams to dictate the play. If the Wild fail to make the postseason, the Dumba injury was the turning point.
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