Power play comes to life Dallas ranked fourth in power play success rate during the regular season at 22.1%, so their 1 for 13 effort through the first three games of the series was a cause for concern coming into Game 4.
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Lehtonen was in net when the Stars won the first two games at home, and for the 5-3 loss in Game 3 at Minnesota.
The Dallas Stars scored two power-play goals and got a deflection off the skate of Jason Spezza late in the second period, then held on to defeat the Wild 3-2, sending 19,080 loud and expectant Minnesota fans home disappointed.
“We’re definitely in a hole right now”, Zucker said.
The Wild tried to make too many flawless plays early on, as opposed to throwing pucks on net and testing goalie Antti Niemi, making his first start of the series in place of Kari Lehtonen. They’ll host Game 5 in Dallas on Friday. “We’ve done it in their building this year. You’re starting to see the benefits of having fresh goalies all the time”, Spezza said.
“I liked our game”.
Niemi played a fantastic game and finished the night 28-30 while the Stars slipped by the Wild for the 3-2 victory.
“I think that we’re focused”, Torchetti said. But despite an Antoine Roussel penalty to put the Wild at a 6-4 advantage, the Wild weren’t able to put on any real pressure, meaning that the Spezza goal had separated the Wild entirely from the lead.
Notes: Dallas had 85 total shots in regulation, 40 more than Minnesota….
“We got our first win, now it’s all about the next one and we [have to] get ready for that”, Wild forward Mikael Granlund told NHL.com on Tuesday.
But time in the penalty box against a team with the scoring power of the Stars will hurt you eventually.
It was the first goal of the post season for both players, the first post season goal of Schroeder’s career.
Barring a remarkable comeback, the Wild will fail to meet its stated goal of advancing past the second round of the playoffs.
Penalties had threatened to bite the Wild early in the series, and finally it occurred as Ales Hemsky tied the game on the powerplay.
“We went back to just trying to shoot the puck”, coach Lindy Ruff said. Alex Goligoski coughed up the puck, but Niemi was swimming and Stephen Johns didn’t shut down the post.
Niederreiter took a slashing penalty a few minutes later, though, and Eaves followed with a redirection that eluded Dubnyk.
Make no mistake, the Wild played some really good hockey in the third period. The Stars took advantage of that preceding power play and tied the game, which took the momentum away from the Wild.
“We’ve stayed with the program”.
It was not pretty, but they’re not always supposed to be. “We’re comfortable using both of them”, Ruff said. “When I don’t see him in the picture, he isn’t near as an effective defenseman for us”. This team needs an overhaul, and no matter who is at the steering wheel the job is going to be tough. Niederreiter committed a slash and watched as Patrick Eaves tipped a Kris Russell shot past Dubnyk to knot the game up.
“You don’t look at it that way”, Haula said.
Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.
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“We still knew there was a lot of time left”.
