Wild players brave the elements -- and the commute -- in win over Ottawa

ST. PAUL -- Daniel Winnik left his car behind and walked the last block to Xcel Energy Center.
Jason Zucker spent more than two hours getting in from Edina.
Matt Dumba was in a car accident with teammate Tyler Ennis.

But not the weather, or the commute, or the walk or even a fender bender could keep the Wild down on a snowy Monday night in the Twin Cities, as Minnesota scored early, then added two more late in a 3-1 win against the Ottawa Senators.
Perhaps nobody had a more eventful trip to the rink than Dumba and Ennis, who along with Jonas Brodin, had trouble even getting out of their neighborhood in Minneapolis.
"When I was coming out of downtown, it was kind of gridlocked and everyone was kind of in the same position, but some guys had kind of weaved through it," Dumba said. "We tried to follow them, but one of those slinky buses -- the two buses attached to each other -- got stuck. Me and [Brodin] and [Ennis] all left at the same time and we all got stuck behind that. That was probably a 30-minute process."
That was only the beginning.
The three-man caravan continued east down Interstate 94 and into St. Paul, which brought on a completely new set of challenges.
"We had a police escort down Kellogg, but people didn't really appreciate that, they were honking and trying to cut us off," Dumba said.
Along the way, Brodin -- the third man in the three-man pack -- got separated from Dumba and Ennis. As Dumba pulled up next to the police officer at an intersection near Xcel Energy Center, Ennis accidentally ran into his teammate's car.
"We made it like two hours and 30 minutes on the road without a crash, then we had one right on the intersection of 7th Street," Dumba said. "We gotta go check the cars; we didn't even really have time, we just ran in."
Dumba, Ennis and Granlund each arrived within 10 or 15 minutes of the start of warmups. But all were accounted for Monday; Dumba assisted on a goal while Granlund scored one goal and also had an assist.
"You just go out there and play. It's not that big of a deal for me," Granlund said. "You'd like to be here a little bit earlier. Sometimes the traffic is what it is, happy we made it to the game."

Hockey players are creatures of habit, typically leaving home and arriving at the arena at nearly the same time every game. NHL players are supposed to be at the arena two hours before puck drop.
Many were late on Monday as they battled the elements. Winnik wasn't one of them, however, as he chose to park his car in a lot a block from the arena and walk the rest of the way after not moving for nearly 15 minutes.
Rather than risk being late, Winnik hopped out in his dress shoes and braved the elements.
"It was literally like 0.2 miles away that it was a disaster," Winnik said. "So I just said, 'screw this,' and parked my car in a parking lot. As I was leaving, the guy was like, 'where are you going?' I'm like, 'I'm parking my car.' He usually has a sign up, but he was fine with it. So then I just walked over."
Wild coach Bruce Boudreau is no stranger to travel theatrics. He recounted a story from when he coached the Capitals and a day when Washington was scheduled for a noon puck drop, and players showed up only a few minutes before game time.
Boudreau said players were offered the use of a hotel room on Monday if they wanted to stay close to the arena. Few accepted, and some learned a lesson the hard way.
Some harder than most.
"They all thought they were big and brave and could make it to the game," Boudreau said. "Not enough Canadians, I guess."
Related:
- Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 3, Senators 1 - Watch: Wild players talk commute in blizzard - Watch: Boudreau discusses win, travel hazards