Extra extra session brings exhilaration, anxiety

ST. PAUL -- Few scenarios in professional hockey spark as much debate as a shootout.
Some fans love it, providing an exciting conclusion to every game and making sure one teams leaves a winner. Some hate it, the idea of a team sport being boiled down to a one-on-one matchup.
Saturday's game between the Wild and Anaheim Ducks had a little something for everybody.

The Ducks eventually left Xcel Energy Center victorious when Nick Ritchie scored in the 11th round of the shootout, helping Anaheim earn a critical extra point in the standings.
"You gotta decide the game some way," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who made 29 saves through regulation and overtime before stopping eight more shots in the shootout. "It's a fun challenge, it's a unique challenge, You kind of switch your mentality; once overtime is over, it's a completely different game and scenario. It's a one-on-one competition, but I don't mind it. It's fun."
Dubnyk said he wasn't physically challenged much Saturday, despite going 11 rounds Saturday -- a franchise record -- and participating in a lengthy shootout competition during practice on Friday.

While the practice competition is fast-paced and shooters are coming once every few seconds, a game situation gives him a minute or so to rest and prepare between shooters.
"It's not bad, they're just one-offs," Dubnyk said. "I've never been in one that long, but it happens sometimes."
In terms of preparation, Dubnyk does some work with goalie coach Bob Mason ahead of a start, getting a general idea of what the first couple shooters may do.
Some of that is guess work, as Dubnyk obviously doesn't know for certain which shooters he will be facing.
But in a shootout that goes 11 rounds, where defensemen and bottom-six forwards become involved, Dubnyk said he relies more on his own technique at that point. Occasionally, he'll think back to a game he's watched and seen a move a guy may have used previously.
"I think everybody is different," Dubnyk said. "I try not to think too much about what they're going to do. I'm a big guy, and if I can get the proper gap and the proper speed moving back, really I should be able to close up a lot of shots. Then at that point, it's up to me to just be patient and move one way or the other, I don't need to be guessing too much about what he's going to do."
The Wild -- now 3-2 in shootouts this season and 67-61 since the league adopted the extra extra session in 2005-06 -- shot first and trailed after the first round when Mikko Koivu shot wide and Ryan Getzlaf scored. It had one chance to win, after Zach Parise scored in round three and Dubnyk made the stop, extending the shootout.

Nino Niederreiter, who was benched for a bulk of the third period and overtime, scored in round four. But Anaheim's Ondrej Kase extended things further by slipping a shot through Dubnyk's five-hole.
Neither team scored again until Ritchie's goal in round 11.
Coach Bruce Boudreau said there's no rhyme or reason for his shootout choices once things get beyond his normal three or four players. He said his list is never longer than five.
Koivu is typically a staple, as is Parise. Chris Stewart was a perfect 3-for-3 in the shootout this season until he was stopped in the second round Saturday.
Sometimes, Boudreau picks a player having a great game. Others, he'll pick a guy who didn't play as well and could be in search of redemption.
Usually, it's just a gut feeling.

"By the time you get [to round 11], there's not a lot of guys who've been in shootouts before," Boudreau said. "So you just hope they score."
For shooters, going one-on-one with the goalie can be a big mental challenge.
While there is abundant tape on goaltenders, and what their tendencies may be, a netminder like Gibson makes things especially difficult. He made saves in a couple of different ways on Saturday, refusing to bite on certain fakes while also resorting to a two-pad stack, a move goalies used to employ more often decades ago. He even successfully used a poke check on Matt Dumba in the 11th round, just before Ritchie's winner.
Showing a variety of moves in the crease can keep an already anxious shooter guessing.
"When you get that opportunity, you want it so bad," Staal said. "But as the years have gone on, the advantage has shown to be with the goalie."

Many shooters, like goaltenders, tend to worry about themselves. Getting caught up in trying to beat a goalie a certain way can take a shooter away from some of his strengths.
Then, of course, there is the mental test of 19,000 fans focused on just one man. In a shootout, that player has ample time to overanalyze.
"I'm emotional; I love breakaways during games, I love breakaways during overtime," Staal said. "But I don't like the shootout, because it's too much time to think. I'm a lot better of a player when I don't think and things just come reactionary."
Related:
- - Watch: Zucker scores on pretty redirection