When it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, emotions run high, especially after a tough loss in double OT. That's why I'm really concerned about the upcoming Game 4 tomorrow afternoon for the Dallas Stars. This is not the same Wild team that the Stars eliminated back in 2023. They are not going to lie down after losing in double overtime in the wee hours of Thursday morning. You best believe the Wild are going to come out swinging to force a best-of-three wins to wrap up the series.
The Dallas Stars have the series lead 2-1, and I'm concerned about how they'll handle it heading into tomorrow afternoon. All it takes is one win to swing the momentum in the other direction completely, and the Wild would love nothing more than to take advantage of a Stars team that thinks they have this series locked up after their last game. This series is not over by any long shot. Dallas needs to treat tomorrow's game the way they did in Game 2 if they want to put the Wild on the brink of elimination.
One thing that needs to continue is getting the top line involved in the offense. Dallas has done a good job in this series by getting their top lines involved in the offense. Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson have definitely left their mark on this series. Coming into this series, those two players really had to show up in a big way to dictate the flow of the Stars' offense. Even Mikko Rantanen has had to step up, and he did in a big way on Matt Duchene's game-tying goal in Game 3.
Rantanen is another player who needs to show up in the biggest way in Game 4 if the Stars want a commanding lead over the Wild. With that massive contract the Stars gave him when he was traded to the Stars last season, there's no excuse to have his moose hooves all over the offense. While he hasn't scored many goals in this series, tomorrow afternoon is where he needs to show up and really put a damper on the State of Hockey's mood.
Tomorrow is a huge turning point in the series as they head back to Dallas after tomorrow's game. Do the Stars have the commanding series lead over the Wild, or are they tied at 2 heading into the final three games of the series? That is the question the Stars need to be asking themselves in the mirror this afternoon. There's no excuse for the Stars' offense to be lethal tomorrow. Let's close out this series early in case Los Angeles decides to force Game 5 back in Denver. Stop playing with your food and eat the entire plate. That means I expect a clean gravy bowl from Radek Faksa.
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