Jake Oettinger's resurgence ties the series up at one, headed to St. Paul

The Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild faced off in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs series at the American Airlines Center tonight. Things went from 0-100 for the Wild in the second period of Game 1. Dallas came away from that game embarrassed out of their mind, as it was the highest-scoring Game 1 to begin the playoffs. Dallas needed to focus and come in to avoid going down 2-0 in the series. They did exactly that tonight, despite some of the penalty calls, winning 4-2.

While the Stars didn't have a perfect game, they were much more focused and were ready to go. It was great seeing Wyatt Johnston, Matt Duchene, and Jason Robertson find the back of the net. Jake Oettinger looked possessed the entire night and is a huge reason the Stars aren't in a 2-0 hole headed back to Minnesota. Here are the four takeaways from tonight's contest between the Stars and the Wild.

Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild Recap: 4. Otter stop turns into gold

The Stars needed to strike early in this game to wake themselves out of their slumber. Oettinger had an amazing save that ended up going down the ice, and Johnston put it in the back of the net. That's the type of stuff that Dallas needed to go their way tonight. Even though Brock Faber scored sometime after Johnston's goal, Dallas needed that spark in the first period. That's the kind of confidence that Oettinger needed to be a road villain in his home state.

Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild Recap: 3. Somewhat happy with Moose

I appreciate his assist on Duchene's power play goal in the second period, but his ability to end up in the penalty box is worrying me alot. While there were two times that he really didn't deserve to be in the box tonight, Rantanen has to do a better job of staying out of the penalty box. The Wild have a legit power play, and Dallas can't afford to be handing them power play after power play. However, Dallas was able to win despite all the times he went to the box tonight.

Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild Recap: 2. Sorry Cedar Park faithful

Arttu Hyry is not leaving the lineup anything soon after tonight. He's earned his spot on the Stars' roster next season, made, and you can't tell me no. Hyry is just a menace to the defensive side of the game and made highlight plays throughout tonight's game. I know why Glen Gulutzan didn't have him in the lineup for Game 1, but he can't take him out after tonight's performance. We are going to run out of money for Robertson with all these good young players.

Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild Recap: 1. Can we get some new officials?

I'm not trying to be harsh on the officiating crew, but some of these calls tonight were laughable from a neutral reporter's perspective. Rantanen went to the penalty box because he got sucker punched in the face and didn't respond to the player. Then he gets called for tripping when it wasn't tripping. I'm not saying the officials wanted Minnesota to win tonight, but some of the calls seemed to go that way. Dallas has the confidence it needs to go into St. Paul and wreak havoc beginning on Wednesday night. Stay tuned to Blackout Dallas for more playoff hockey coverage.

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