DALLAS - Devan Dubnyk was in a precarious position Friday night in the second period of the Wild's 3-1 win over the Stars. The Stars' Jamie Benn had just clocked Dubnyk in the head with a forearm and sent Dubnyk backward.
He struggled to regain his footing and fortunately for the Wild, the Stars didn't take advantage of Dubnyk being out of commission for a few seconds.
But he recovered and regained form, shutting down the Stars for most of the night and making 33 saves.
After the game, Dubnyk said he didn't have an issue with Benn on the play.
"I wasn't upset with Benn at all," Dubnyk said. "I mean, that's what makes him a great player. He goes hard to the net."
Dubnyk did wish the officials called it differently. According to Dubnyk, the officials said he was out of the crease, negating any penalty or interference call.
"They're a little too quick to just say, 'Yeah, the guy is not in the crease,' when it's a guy's responsibility," Dubnyk said. "If there's no space to skate between the goalie and the defenseman, it's his responsibility. But I wasn't upset with 'Bennie,' he plays extremely hard and driving the net like that is a big part of his game. It makes him a great player."
Coach Bruce Boudreau wasn't as forgiving with Benn after the game.
"That was a pretty solid hit and if I recall, Jamie Benn has done that before," Boudreau said. "Our preseason game against him, he ran [Dubnyk] over before the puck went in the net as well. It's not like he doesn't do it. And he plays hard. Gold love him. He goes to the net. That's why he scores a lot of goals."
Foligno returns
Marcus Foligno made an impact for the Wild after returning from a stomach illness that kept him out of the lineup Tuesday. Foligno didn't register in the scoring but he did log 1 minute, 31 seconds of penalty kill time, tied for most among Wild forwards.
"Rest is a weapon, I guess," Foligno said. "The first period was a little iffy though. Just trying to get my legs under me. Warmups before the game felt weird too. But I felt good. Maybe I felt lighter, I'm not sure (laughing). I lost a lot of fluids. But I'm happy with my effort."
