DALLAS – As the Minnesota Wild’s best of seven series with the Dallas Stars has now been reduced to a best of three, special teams success or lack thereof has become a defining trait of the quartet of games (plus a few overtime periods) we have seen so far.
The Stars are deadly on the power play. They have scored 11 goals in the series, and eight of them have come with a member of the Wild in the penalty box. The 42.1% power play success rate posted by Dallas after four games was second only to Anaheim (50%).
But those numbers mean that over the course of four games — two of them extended by overtime — the Stars have just three even-strength goals. And that’s a concern.
“We’ve just got to try to put the puck in the back of the net. At times, we were dominating five-on-five, so I’m not worried about generating and stuff like that,” Dallas standout forward Mikko Rantanen said after Game 4, lamenting lost chances to head back to Texas with a 3-1 series lead.
“There was definitely times where we were going to take a two- three-goal lead if we bury every chance,” Rantanen said. “But that doesn’t happen usually. Just stick with it.”
The Wild are struggling with the man advantage. Minnesota has 14 goals in the four games. Just three of them have come on the power play. And since losing Mats Zuccarello following the Game 1 blowout, in which they were 2 of 4 on the man advantage, the Wild have scored just one power play goal. In Games 2, 3 and 4, Minnesota is a collective 1 for 15 with a Star in the penalty box.
As the team met for a practice on home ice Monday, before their latest trip to Texas, there was potential good news on the ice, with Zuccarello back skating and practicing with the top power play unit.
This is a confident bunch, fully believing the Wild can win two out of the next three. But they acknowledge that getting more goals while up a man is vital.
“Usually, if you’re struggling like we are on the power play, (the series is) gonna be 3-1. But I think we got a really good team, and we played really well 5 on 5. We’ve gotten timely stops when we’ve needed them,” Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes said. “And, I mean, Game 3 could have went either way. Game 4 could have went either way. I thought we had our looks in Game 2. So we’re playing good hockey, and obviously we need the power play.”
Tuesday’s Game 5 will mark the fourth consecutive playoff appearance for Minnesota in which the Wild have had a tied series after four games. They have lost the previous three, and they have not been to the second round in a decade.
“We’ve been in 2-2 series before, and we’ve got to play a really, really good, smart, detailed game in Dallas. I think that’s where we’re going with that. I think we played a great game again,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said following Game 4.
“I think the momentum of the game is something that we have to learn to control in Dallas. So all eyes are just on Game 5,” Foligno said. “I mean…you can’t look at Game 6 or 7. it’s got to be just, how can we win in Dallas for one game?”
Game 5 begins at 7 p.m. at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
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