Wild Blog: Wild Lose Special Teams Battle, Fall To Stars 3-2
The one thing the Minnesota Wild needed to do to have a chance against Dallas in this series was to stay out of the penalty box.
In Game 4 the Wild failed to do so and it cost them.
Power play goals by Ales Hemsky and Patrick Eaves helped keep the Stars in the game after Minnesota took the lead as Dallas went on to win 3-2, taking a 3-1 lead in this best of seven series.
The first goal for Dallas came at 9:11 of the second period when Hemsky found himself at the top of face-off circle and fired the puck past Devan Dubnyk, who was screened by Colton Sceviour, tying the game 1-1.
The second Stars goal came at 13:24 of the second period. Kris Russell would fire a shot that Eaves would deflect past Dubnyk, tying the game once again for Dallas, this time at 2-2.
Both power play goals happened as a result of bad luck and timing for Minnesota.
The first power play goal happened as a result of Matt Dumba trying to clear the puck out of the defensive zone. Dumba ended up shooting the puck into the stands, giving Minnesota a penalty for delay of game. If Dumba would have been able to deflect the puck off the glass first before it went into the stands, no penalty would have been called.
The second power play goal started with a loose puck at center ice. Both Mikael Granlund and Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski were racing towards the loose puck with Goligoski getting to it first. This led to a short-handed Wild team having a player out of position as Dallas brought the puck back into the offensive zone.
From there Jason Spezza was able to make a pass to Russell who had plenty of time to shoot. With Russell open, Eaves was able to get to the front of the net and tip the puck past Dubnyk to tie the game 2-2. Nate Prosser and Jonas Brodin failed to pick up Eaves sneaking behind them as both players were watching Russell the entire time.
If Granlund gets to that loose puck first that goal doesn't happen. If Prosser or Brodin are able to pick up Eaves sneaking behind them, chances are the puck isn't deflected, allowing Dubnyk to make a clean save.
Those two power play goals kept Dallas in the game and took a little life out of the crowd at Xcel Energy Center each time.
The Stars would get their first lead of the game at 18:51 of the second period when Spezza went hard to the net and was able to tip the puck past Dubnyk, making the score 3-2.
Minnesota was unable to answer in the third period as Dallas held on for the win. After the game the Wild knew that losing the special teams battle cost them a victory.
"The story of that game was special teams and Dallas won that battle." Jason Pomnville said after the game. "They feed off of their power play and tonight was a good example of that. When you lose the special teams battle you usually aren't going to win the game."
As for the Stars, they realized their power play is what gave them a chance to win game four.
"Our unit had a couple looks and there was great puck movement by the second power play unit, a great screen and a perfect shot by Hemsky." Spezza said about the first power play goal Dallas scored.
Spezza then added to that saying "We caught them in transition on a long change for the second power play goal with a good tip by Eaves at the end. Sometimes you get good looks on the power play and don't score. Then you get a couple ugly ones and get momentum off of it."
Game five shifts to Dallas on Friday night with the Stars having all the momentum and a chance to close out the series. Minnesota knows their backs are against the wall, a challenge that Ryan Suter welcomes.
"I feel we are best when our backs are against the wall." Suter said. "We have to come out with the same intensity and urgency, stay out of the penalty box and get back to playing five on five. We know that we can beat these guys. They are going to play hard. It's a big game for us and we have to put the effort in."
