Wild's Dubnyk after being swept by Blackhawks: '(I) feel sick'
The Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 4-3 win in Game 4 of their second-round series Thursday night, and the sweep left the Wild feeling ill.
"(I) feel sick," Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk told reporters. "Doesn’t feel right. To be with the group that we have, to finish it that way, it just doesn’t feel right.”
The Wild had little hope of a postseason berth before trading for Dubnyk, whose resurgence saved Minnesota's season. The netminder wasn't ready to process his remarkable run.
"It’s going to take a while," Dubnyk said. "This was a special year and a special group. Again, it just doesn’t feel right that we’re done playing now. It’s going to take a while and after that, you move on and get better the next time.”
The Wild fell behind 4-1 Thursday after Marian Hossa's empty-net goal, but rallied with two goals with less than three minutes left to make it 4-3. Minnesota had a pair of chances to tie the game in the final seconds but couldn't convert.
"We played well and we deserved to win, certainly win a couple games," Dubnyk said.
"Obviously they’re very opportunistic and I couldn’t seem to come up with one to keep that game tied or keep it within a shot. We did a good job not quitting. Certainly not surprised by that at all with this group. Just disappointing.”
Chicago defeated Minnesota in the playoffs for the third consecutive year. The Blackhawks vanquished the Wild in the second round last year and did so in the first round two years ago.
Dubnyk set a franchise record by making 39 straight starts for Minnesota after a midseason trade from the Arizona Coyotes. He earned a Vezina Trophy nomination after going 36-14-4 with a goals-against average of 2.07 and a .929 save percentage.
"It’s been an honor to be a part of it," the goaltender said.
"The way that we played from top to bottom every single night, every single guy. It didn’t matter if guys were coming in playing more minutes, coming in from out of the lineup, everybody played as hard as they could every night and it was an absolute honor to be a part of it.”