ST. PAUL, Minn. _ Let's be frank, Bruce Boudreau came to the Wild with a little male pattern baldness, but the coach quipped Thursday morning that he wished he could explain the Wild's propensity for playing well and usually beating the NHL's current playoff teams but losing to the non-playoff teams.
"I'd have more hair," Boudreau cracked.
The Wild entered Thursday's game against the Boston Bruins 5-1-1 against teams in each conference's top-8 and 3-5 against those below the playoff threshold.
Boudreau said he wasn't worrying about the latter at least Thursday because the Bruins were the NHL's best road team and starting a goalie that has been virtually impenetrable this season.
On Thursday night, the Wild's Devan Dubnyk was equally as solid as the red-hot Tuukka Rask, but and after a dazzling goalie duel, the Wild followed a 1-0 home loss with a 1-0 home win.
The game ended probably the way it had to: a broken play with 44.5 seconds left that didn't go in clear.
Mikael Granlund's attempted cross-crease pass to defenseman Jonas Brodin deflected off the leg of Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid. It was the Wild's first lead in three home games to snap a two-game home losing streak.
Dubnyk finished with 25 saves for his league-leading fourth shutout and 23rd of his career.
The Wild's offense have been absolutely maddening, so Rask, who entered with a 10-1 record, 1.54 goals-against average and .945 save percentage, was hard to beat. The Wild are 6-4 in the past 10 games, yet has allowed 10 goals in that span. That's because in the losses, the Wild averaged 0.75 goals per game.
It's also the reason why Dubnyk was in danger of seeing his record fall to .500 Thursday despite giving up nine goals in the previous eight games and entering with a 1.60 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.
Remember, the Wild's the same team that led the NHL in goals scored in late October.
Thursday, the Wild was ineffective as usual offensively.
In the first period, the Wild struggled mightily to even enter the zone on two power plays. In the second, a period in which the Wild outshot the Bruins 11-1 to start, Jason Pominville was denied twice from point-blank range by Rask, Jared Spurgeon missed the net badly on an odd-man rush and Mikael Granlund's attempt at a wide-open cage was deflected wide by giant 6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara.
The Wild thought they saw Boston score the first goal with 5:24 left in the second when a point shot deflected in off David Backes' leg. But Boudreau challenged offside, and even though David Krejci preceded the puck into the zone, he would have been deemed onside because it was ruled he possessed the puck. But near the bench, Ryan Spooner's skate was in the air, so the goal was overturned anyway and thus sent the game into the third period scoreless.
In the third, Dubnyk saved the day early when Matt Dumba put the puck right on Matt Beleskey's stick at the defensive blue line for a breakaway. But Dubnyk sprawled forward with a poke check and smothered the puck before Beleskey could get a shot off.
The third period was a tight-checking chess match with each team working exhaustively to get through the neutral zone. It led to precious few chances, but both goalies continued to be razor sharp.
