Dubnyk picks up 30th win in season of validation

With a 6-2 drubbing of the Calgary Flames on Thursday, Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk picked up his 30th win of the season.

It marked just the the fourth time a Wild goalie has hit the milestone, making him just the third Wild goalie to do so, while also setting a personal-best.

The win helped Dubnyk reach the 30-win mark for the first time in his career, proving last season's spectacular play down the stretch was no fluke.

"That was the first thing that came up," Dubnyk told Kristen Odland of the Calgary Sun ahead of Thursday's game. "As much as I tried to prepare for it, there were some frustrations. Sometimes you let that creep into the way you think about things. Now, all of a sudden, if you're letting your save percentage get into your head, that's the worst thing you can do.

"That's the challenge I had to face this year."

Dubnyk aided his team in making the playoffs last season with a ridiculous 27-9-2 record coupled with a .936 save percentage and a 1.78 goals-against average.

The season was almost too good to be true for Dubnyk, something that weighed heavy on the netminder heading into this season.

"I was trying not to be in that mindset," said Dubnyk. "I was trying to prepare myself to not go into the year with that mindset and understand that that was going to be the first thing that (people would talk about) if things didn't go (well)."

Things have gone well for Dubnyk. The 29-year-old signed a six-year $26-million contract in the offseason and this year has hit career-highs in games played, wins, and is just one shutout away from matching his previous career-best.