Practically dormant in the first three games, the Stars stopped looking for the flawless play and instead got pucks to the net – an Ales Hemsky bomb through a screen and a ideal deflection by Cody Eakin off the rush gave the Stars two much needed power play goals.
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The second Stars goal came at 13:24 of the second period.
Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press offered a lame stereotype of Dallas residents in his most recent column bemoaning the struggles of the Wild. Hemsky has collected three points in four games in the series. He still manages to calm it down and has the presence of mind to make a spectacular deke around Antti Niemi for the goal.
When the final horn sounded in the 3rd period and the Wild left the ice at Xcel Center and it seemed like they were far from defeated.
According to the website www.whowins.com, teams that lead 3-2 in a best-of seven National Hockey League series win that series 78.0 percent of the time. “And they’re definitely against the wall now”. Hey, you know what? We know we are playing a good team and we know they are confident. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 18 career games against Dallas. Niederreiter scored his first of the series just 50 seconds later to give the Wild back the lead at 3-2.
The Stars got two power plays.
The team’s start looked like a continuation of Game 3.
Charlie Coyle had a superhuman goal, but the Wild were out-classed otherwise.
Power-play opportunities- Dallas 0 of 2. (OK, so Colorado played poorly enough for the Wild to qualify for the playoffs, but, again, jumping in with both feet here).
“Desperation, that’s what we need”, Wild center Erik Haula said. The Stars overcame true adversity and laid it all on the line for each other in those final minutes in a gritty and emotional win that sets Dallas up for its first playoff series win since 2008. Through the first 85 minutes of the games in Minnesota, Torchetti had effectively shut down the Stars’ top two lines and choked the highest-scoring team in the NHL’s offense down to nothing.
Fourth in the National Hockey League during the regular season at 22.1 percent, the Stars scored only once in 13 opportunities over the first three games of this Western Conference quarterfinal matchup. “I liked our work ethic”.
Wild ready to draw even with Stars?
The Wild still trail the best-of-series series 3-2. Now the Wild want one, too.
“We got to block that shot”, Torchetti said. Jason Zucker collects the loose puck and realizes Coyle has the better path to the net so he shovels it ahead with one hand. But as Demers said, they also don’t have any desire to play another game in Minnesota.
It was a power play that had helped the Stars to the best record in the Western Conference this season. They were out-shot, out-chanced, out-attempted by the Stars.
They played so poorly in January and into February that coach Mike Yeo was sacked.
A loss in Game 5 on Friday night would end the Wild’s season and begin the franchise’s most uncertain offseason since Zach Parise and Ryan Suter arrived in 2012.
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Minnesota was unable to answer in the third period as Dallas held on for the win. I realize that’s a lifetime ago for many Wild fans, but did anyone truly believe Richard Park, Andrew Brunette and Co. could win three consecutive against Colorado, then again against Vancouver?
