ST. PAUL, Minn. — He couldn’t see it. So he couldn’t stop it.
In a tie game midway through the third period Thursday night, Philipp Grubauer made a left-pad save on a stuff-in attempt by Minnesota’s Eric Staal. And the Avalanche goalie thought the puck had caromed out from danger.
But it was between his feet, just outside the goalline, where the Wild’s Jason Zucker, the former University of Denver standout, slapped it in for the game-winning goal in Minnesota’s 3-2 triumph at the Xcel Energy Center.
“Weird play. Usually, you can feel the puck on the pad.