from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

Well, it took a long time, longer than Minnesota Wild fans would have liked, but the plucky Wild woke up in a playoff spot on Monday morning by virtue of their 6-2 pounding of the Dallas Stars on

Sunday night to close out Hockey Weekend Across America. The win, earned by Devan Dubnyk of course, gives the Wild three straight and an 11-1-1 record over their last 13 games. At what point do we start to give serious consideration to Dubnyk -- .925 save percentage, 2.19 GAA and six shutouts -- as a Vezina Trophy candidate and, dare we say it, Hart Trophy consideration? Has any single player been more valuable to their team's efforts than Dubnyk since coming over from Arizona?

The Wild win may have crushed the remaining playoff hopes of the Stars while dislodging, at least temporarily, the Calgary Flames from the top eight.

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