Dallas Stars Look To Fix Kinks, Push Wild To Edge
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars are back at it tonight in St. Paul, Minnesota for game four of the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Wild. Get all the info you can handle below.
Not even 48 hours ago, the Dallas Stars fell in awkward and disappointing fashion to the Minnesota Wild in game three of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Both teams will be back on the ice tonight for game four, and there are sure to be some fireworks.
The game will be broadcasted nationally on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), as well as locally on Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW). You can also listen to the game on 1310AM/96.7FM The Ticket. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Records and Scores
Not much to talk about here, but we’ll go for it anyways. The Dallas Stars finished the year with an impressive record of 50-23-9 with 109 points, which was good enough for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference. They went 4-1-0 against the Minnesota Wild this past year, and they currently own the 2-1 series advantage.
The Minnesota Wild, on the other hand, posted an average record of 38-33-11 with 87 points. They entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the final wild card team. The Wild went 1-1-3 against the Stars this year, and are 1-2 in the series so far.
Storylines
Still anyone’s series
The Dallas Stars did not get off to an encouraging stand away from home on Monday night. After defeating the Wild on two different occasions to start out this first round series, the Stars entered St. Paul with a significant advantage over a Wild team that looked all but extinguished.
But on Monday night, Minnesota took the reins from Dallas after the Stars had secured an early 2-0 lead and rattled off four unanswered goals to eventually win the game 5-3.
Sure the Stars still own the series lead, but Monday night was a perfect example of the unpredictability of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The top team in the NHL at the end of the regular season has just as good a shot at the Cup as the final wild card team that barely skid in. If the Wild win tonight, they will have officially ripped the momentum from Dallas’ clutches and will carry it back to Dallas for an intense game five.
Who wants to play goalie?
The Dallas Stars have yet to activate their two-goalie tandem in this playoff series, largely due to the stellar play of Kari Lehtonen in games one and two. While Lehtonen put together another impressive performance on Monday considering what he was given in terms of offensive and defensive support, there is now the possibility of change.
Lehtonen posted a masterful 22-save shutout in game one at home, and had an average save percentage of .981 by the end of game two. But after the self-destruction that occurred by the entirety of the Stars in game three, does Lindy Ruff defer and give Antti Niemi his first start of the postseason at such a critical point? This will be an interesting call either way, but the Stars have two competent goaltenders to choose from.
The Wild have done this before
The Minnesota Wild may not have won a Stanley Cup in the past two years, but they have made some impressive strides in that timespan. The Wild have qualified for the playoffs in each of the two years prior to the current one, being a wild card team both times. Minnesota has faced off against the Central Division champion club in both 2014 (Colorado Avalanche) and 2015 (St. Louis Blues).
In both years, the Wild have knocked off their first round opponents and moved on to duel with the Chicago Blackhawks. They are known for knocking off the champions, and proved on Monday that they could still do it to the Dallas Stars.
The Stars will need to be alert and back on top of their game tonight if they are looking to clinch a third victory in front of a hostile Minnesota crowd and take the series back to Dallas to close it out. If not, the momentum gained in tying the series may be enough to propel the Wild to the next round and the Stars to an early offseason.
Injury report
The Dallas Stars have no definite injuries on their roster for tonight’s game. D Kris Russell (illness) practiced yesterday and is questionable for tonight and C Tyler Seguin (achilles) missed game three due to rehab in Dallas. His status is listed as day-to-day and no updates have been given.
The Minnesota Wild will be missing the same players as they have been for a while. LW Zach Parise (upper body) is out indefinitely and LW Thomas Vanek (upper body) is week-to-week. Do not expect to see either of these players in the lineup tonight.
Projected lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Patrick Sharp
Mattias Janmark – Jason Spezza – Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel – Radek Faksa – Ales Hemsky
Valeri Nichushkin – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour
Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg
More stars: Radek Faksa More Than Carrying His Weight With Stars
Minnesota Wild
Mikael Granlund – Mikko Koivu – David Jones
Nino Niederreiter – Erik Haula – Jason Pominville
Jason Zucker – Charlie Coyle – Justin Fontaine
Chris Porter – Zac Dalpe – Kurtis Gabriel
Marco Scandella – Nate Prosser
Jonas Brodin – Matthew Dumba
Next: Stars Needed To Fall Hard Early In Their Playoff Journey
Prediction
This is definitely a tough situation for the Dallas Stars. Down one, possibly two of their best players and in a hostile environment with little momentum to use. This is usually where Cup-ready teams put their backs to the wall and thrive. I think that the Stars are close to, if not one of those teams. Give me Dallas bouncing back and winning it 5-2 and flying back to Texas to close it out in game five.