Wild’s Matt Dumba hosts block party as team’s resident hype man

If the team needs a spark before a game, Dumba is usually the guy running around trying to get everyone pumped up. If a teammate scores a big goal, Dumba is usually right in the middle of the celebration. If that’s not enough, Dumba is also the architect of the pregame playlist of music that blares over the loudspeakers at Xcel Energy Center, as well as the postgame playlist that echos throughout locker room after each win.

Even better, the 26-year-old defenseman is also capable of getting his team going with his play on the ice. He boasts the hardest shot on the team, and on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena, he proved he is more than willing to sacrifice his body to help the team.

Though the Wild lost 3-1 to the Golden Knights in Las Vegas in Game 2 of their first-round series, it wasn’t for a lack of effort on Dumba’s part. He scored the only goal of the game for the Wild and set a franchise playoff record with eight blocked shots.

“We were joking about it on the bench that he was going to have a record night,” fellow defenseman Ryan Suter said. “He played great. Our guys are sacrificing. That’s what it takes.”

Dumba downplayed his record-breaking performance. “Just so happened the plays are breaking down like that and I’m getting in front of those shots,” he said. “Any one of my teammates would have done the same.”

That’s true. After recording 23 blocked shots in Game 1, the Wild increased that output to 26 in Game 2. Coach Dean Evason constantly preached the importance of blocked shots throughout the regular season, but his players have taken it to another level with the arrival of the playoffs.

“To ask the guys to be diving and sticking their noses in front of a puck in Game 35, some guys do, some guys don’t,” Evason said. “Everyone does at this time of the year. I don’t think any coach has to harp on it. It’s the desperation and commitment that they have in the games and to each other.”

No player exemplified that more than Dumba in Game 2. He singlehandedly saved a couple of goals Tuesday by diving in front of goaltender Cam Talbot, with his most gutsy effort coming when he put his face in harm’s way to absorb a shot from Golden Knights winger Mattias Janmark.

“He’s as gritty as any player that plays,” Evason said. “He’s going to do all the right things, whether it’s sticking his nose in there, being physical or blocking shots. He’s done it all year. We don’t expect anything different here.”

Because he’s so talented on the offensive end, Dumba’s commitment on defense sometimes goes unnoticed by outsiders. But it’s definitely there. He’s got the bruises to prove it.

Maybe the most impressive thing about Dumba’s blocked shots was the consistency with which he managed to get into shooting lanes. There’s no handbook on how to properly block a shot. It’s not something teams practice.

It raises the question: How does someone get better at blocking shots?

“To be honest, I think doing it repetitively in a game is the best way to do it,” said veteran defenseman Ian Cole, who ranked third on the Wild with 92 blocked shots in the regular season. “It’s an instance of desperation. It’s a desperate play. You don’t try to rely on blocked shots. It’s just something we have to do in certain situations. We just try to get it done as best we can.”

Though the Wild did not get the win Tuesday, Dumba thinks the effort blocking shots could carry over to Game 3 on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center.

“It’s a seven-game series,” he said. “You’ve got to build in every category. Everything piles up. Just going to keep with that. If we’re going to play like we did at the start of the game, we’re going to be fine.”