Wild draws it up perfectly in win against Oilers

ST. PAUL -- Considering the circumstances, the Wild couldn't have drawn up Monday's 3-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers any better.
Playing in front of its home fans for the final time during the regular season, Minnesota officially
announced
that defenseman Ryan Suter would miss the remainder of the season with a fractured ankle.
It certainly wasn't shocking news. It was widely reported over the past 36 hours, and even the mood in the Wild dressing room following the game in Dallas on Saturday told the story of a team that knew it would be without its alternate captain for an extended period.

Once it became official, it would have been easy for the Wild to accept said gut punch and roll over against an Oilers team 18 points out of a playoff spot.
Instead, the Wild rolled up its sleeves and got to work.
Jonas Brodin and Matt Dumba capably filled in for Suter and Jared Spurgeon, and Carson Soucy looked steady in his NHL debut as Minnesota -- with help from the Los Angeles Kings, who beat the Colorado Avalanche in regulation --
clinched
its sixth consecutive trip to the postseason.

"I think all around it was a pretty good game for us," said Wild forward Zach Parise. "I think our defensemen did a good job. Like we said before, Ryan's a tough guy to replace but they did a good job all over the ice, made smart plays and simple plays and did a good job, especially against their top line."

Parise and goaltender Devan Dubnyk shouldered a bulk of the load for Minnesota against the Oilers. The former continued his red-hot play since the beginning of March by scoring each of the Wild's first two goals while the latter stopped all 22 shots he faced for his 29th career shutout in his 400th NHL start.

But Soucy was one of the most popular topics of discussion afterward, mostly because he was a guy making his NHL debut who looked like anything but a guy making his NHL debut.
"That was about as impressive of a first game for a young defenseman as you can have from Soucy," Dubnyk said. "I don't think I saw one mistake out there. He looked like he's been in the league for five years. It's fun to see that for him. It's exciting for all of us to see somebody come in that looks like they're fully capable of playing well for us because we're going to need it going forward."
That's been Soucy's M.O. since the beginning of his career at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
"That's my game, most nights anyway, is make the simple plays and let talented forwards do the work," Soucy said. "So especially tonight, I definitely tried to do that."
The Wild doesn't expect Soucy to jump in and gobble up Suter's minute load, nor his roles on both the power play and penalty kill. There isn't a player on the roster who can do all of that, save maybe Spurgeon, who himself is out with injury.
But the blueprint laid down by the Wild against the speedy Oilers on Monday seems like a good one to follow, and one that could get copied as Minnesota heads to California to finish its regular season with a three-game trip on the West Coast.
"You don't want to go out there and get blown out and start to wonder how it's going to be," Dubnyk said. "To be able to go out there and not give up any goals against as a group, that's certainly a good confidence boost to start. It's going to be a tough trip, but it'll be a good chance for us to continue to work on that."
Related:
- Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 3, Oilers 0 - Suter to miss remainder of season with fractured ankle - Watch: Locker room postgame vs. Oilers