Wild look to continue competitive play against Stars
The Minnesota Wild lost four of its five regular-season meetings against their first-round playoffs opponent, the Dallas Stars.
In reality, the season series was much closer than the overall record indicates.
The Wild and Dallas played four one-goal games, including three overtime games won by the Stars. Minnesota trailed by one late in the third period of another game before Dallas scored two empty-net goals.
In total, Minnesota led at points in four of the five games, losing a 3-0 third-period lead in one and a 2-0 lead in another. The Wild struggled on special teams against Dallas, allowing the Stars to convert on 4 of 13 power-play opportunities while scoring on just 1 of 10 of their own.
However, Minnesota has not played Dallas since John Torchetti took over as interim coach on Feb. 13. The Wild are 15-11-1 since then, with five of the 11 losses coming by one goal.
Here is a recap of this season's Dallas-Minnesota games:
Nov. 14, Dallas 3, Minnesota 2 (OT)
The Wild overcame two one-goal deficits, including a 2-1 third-period deficit to force overtime in Dallas before John Klingberg's game winner. Nino Niederreiter and Marco Scandella scored for Minnesota, and Devan Dubnyk saved 33 of 36 shots. Jason Spezza and Jamie Benn also scored for Dallas, and goalie Kari Lehtonen saved 22 of 24 shots.
Nov. 28, Dallas 4, Minnesota 3 (OT)
In St. Paul, Minnesota led 3-0 after two periods but allowed three third-period goals and the game winner by Tyler Seguin with 3:57 remaining. Dallas outshot the Wild 36-16 over the final 38:49 of regulation and overtime and 44-26 on the game. Alex Goligoski, Benn and Klingberg also scored for the Stars while Thomas Vanek, Charlie Coyle and Jason Pominville scored for the Wild.
Dec. 21, Dallas 6, Minnesota 3
Minnesota jumped to a 2-0 lead before allowing the Stars to scored four consecutive goals in the loss in Dallas. Jordie Benn, Vernon Fiddler, Seguin, Antoine Roussel and Cody Eagkin scored for the Stars, who added two empty-net goals in the final minute. Jared Spurgeon, Coyle and Niederreiter scored for Minnesota, which cut the Stars' lead to one in the third before the empty-net goals. Dubnyk saved 28 of 32 shots, while Stars goalie Antti Niemi saved 30 of 31.
Jan. 9, Minnesota 2, Dallas 1
Dubnyk made 34 saves, and the Wild withstood a third-period Stars rally to win in Dallas. Ryan Carter and Vanek scored second-period goals for the Wild, who were outshot 35-25. The win was just one of three the Wild picked up in 13 January games.
Feb. 9, Dallas 4, Minnesota 3 (OT)
The Wild lost leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but forced overtime with a Mikko Koivu goal early in the third period in St. Paul. Klingberg scored the game winner 2:39 into overtime. Goligoski, Jason Demers and Patrick Eaves also scored for the Stars. Erik Haula, Justin Fontaine and Koivu scored for Minnesota, and Darcy Kuemper saved 26 of 30 shots.
