SAINT PAUL, Minn. - In what has become a pattern of sorts early on this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning repeatedly stormed the Minnesota Wild net on Saturday night but could not manage to strike.

Minnesota's Devan Dubnyk won a goaltending battle in a game in which, fittingly, a defenseman scored the lone goal as the Wild escaped with a 1-0 victory over the Lightning in front of 19,066 at Xcel Energy Center. The shutout marks the third time the Lightning have been blanked in just 16 games.

Dubnyk made 31 saves to earn his 16th career shutout and second of the season and defenseman Jared Spurgeon's second-period goal stood up as the difference as Minnesota raised its record to 8-3-2. The Lightning fell to 7-7-2 but goaltender Ben Bishop's 24 saves kept Tampa Bay within striking distance all night.

Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said the game was Dubnyk's best of the season.

"He was almost attacking some of the shots tonight," Yeo said. "They had some really good looks in the first period ... but there's obviously going to be mistakes and if your goalie can do that then it builds confidence in your game."

Although Bishop has allowed a total of eight goals in his last five starts, he has received just three goals from his teammates in support in that span and does not have a win to show for it, yet he's not showing any frustration.

"My job is to try to give this team a chance to win every night and I think I'm doing that," Bishop said. "Obviously we're coming out on the wrong end of things right now but you've just got to stick with it."

Tampa Bay coach John Cooper isn't fretting over the scoring issues.

"The one thing we tell our guys is, it's gonna turn," Cooper said. "There's too many good players in there, they're doing too many good things. It just seems like every single night we're playing a Vezina (trophy) winner and our guy's playing like one too."

In contrast to Bishop, Dubnyk has received adequate goal support this season as he has strived to regain the form which made him such a dominant force in the second half of last season.

"It's nice to be able to pay these guys back a little," Dubnyk said. "They've scored four or five goals for me in some wins this year and they worked real hard for me tonight, gave me a chance."

After the Lightning carried the play most of a scoreless first period, it was the Wild that took the lead just 26 seconds into the second on Spurgeon's second goal of the year. Wild left winger Charlie Coyle's shot was stopped by Bishop but he maintained possession before finding Spurgeon who fired a wrist shot through traffic from the right point.

The goal gave Minnesota an immediate lift as the Wild reeled off the period's first seven shots and 13 of 18 overall in the middle 20 minutes. But Bishop was up to the task with key stops on Wild center Mikko Koivu, left winger Jason Zucker and right winger Christoph Bertschy.

In addition to the goal, the second period was costly one for Tampa Bay in that it lost left winger Ondrej Palat to a lower body near the eight minute mark and he did not return.

"Palat is the ultimate gamer so when you see someone like him go off the way he did, it's never encouraging," said Cooper, adding there is a concern that the injury is more than day-to-day.

Dubnyk was the story of a fast-paced opening period which saw the Lightning outshoot the Wild 13-7.

Dubnyk's stick save on Tampa Bay center Tyler Johnson's shot from the slot went right to Palat near the left post but the bouncing puck handcuffed him and he was denied by Dubnyk's right pad.

Later in the period, with Dubnyk out of his crease, Lightning left winger Alex Killorn wheeled behind the net and found defenseman Anton Stralman for a one-timer from the right circle. But Dubnyk quickly slid to his left to fill the vacated net and make the save.

"He's just in complete desperation mode and it hits off him and goes wide," Cooper said. "But give Dubnyk credit, he didn't give up; he battled back to make the save."

NOTES: Wild LW Zach Parise sat out Saturday's game and is listed as week-to-week after sustaining a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in Thursday night's home loss to Nashville. ... RW Christoph Bertschy was recalled from the Wild's AHL affiliate in Iowa to fill Parise's roster spot and made his NHL debut against the Lightning. ... The Wild earned their first-ever franchise win, 6-5, against the Lightning at Xcel Energy Center on Oct. 8, 2000. ... Tampa Bay LW Jonathan Drouin returned from a five-game absence due to a lower-body injury. ... Lightning D Matt Carle, a healthy scratch on Thursday in Buffalo, returned to the lineup to face the Wild. ... Minnesota concludes its three-game homestand on Tuesday when it hosts the Edmonton Oilers. ... Saturday's game marked the end of a four-game road trip for Tampa Bay. The Lightning welcomes the Buffalo Sabres to Amalie Arena on Tuesday.