The defensive-minded Minnesota Wild haven’t been nearly as dominant at home as in recent seasons, and they allowed 34 shots to the visiting Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night. It marked the seventh time in the Wild’s last 10 home games that they allowed more than 30 shots, but goaltender Niklas Backstrom stopped them all to blank Anaheim, 3-0.

With Backstrom carrying the load in this stretch of home games, stopping an average of 29.9 shots a night, Minnesota has managed to go 6-3-1.

It’s no wonder that the 30-year-old native of Finland ranks among the league leaders in both goals-against average and save percentage. He’s been quite a pickup for the Wild, who signed him in June 2006, after he had led Finland to the silver medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

The Wild had Manny Fernandez on the roster as the No. 1 goalie, but Backstrom took over during an injury-shortened season for the incumbent. Backstrom’s performance made Fernandez expendable, and the Finn is firmly established as a top goaltender in just his third NHL campaign.

Since the lockout season, among goalies who have played at least 100 games, no one has a higher save percentage than Backstrom.

Highest Save Percentage, 2005-06 through 2008-09
(min. 100 games)

Niklas Backstrom . . . .925
Cristobal Huet. . . . . .921
Tomas Vokoun. . . . . .919
Martin Brodeur. . . . .917
Roberto Luongo . . . .917

Wednesday’s shutout was Backstrom’s sixth of the season, and he trails only 20-year-old Columbus rookie Steve Mason, who has seven. It was the 15th of Backstrom’s career, collected in 142 games.

Only four goaltenders have more shutouts in this three-year span, though Backstrom has recorded his in fewer games.

Shutout Leaders, 2006-07 through 2008-09

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G. . . . SO
Martin Brodeur. . . . .165. . . .18
Henrik Lundqvist. . . .185. . . .17
Evgeni Nabokov. . . . .165. . . .17
Roberto Luongo. . . . 174. . . .16
Niklas Backstrom. . . .142. . . .15

Scoring has never been a strong suit of the Wild, who have been a defensive juggernaut since joining the NHL in 2000. With Backstrom in net, the Wild won their first division title last season, and he’s a key player as his team vies for one of the final playoff spots in the Western Conference down the stretch.