Stars, Wild facing opposite offensive challenges as Game 5 approaches
DALLAS – As the Minnesota Wild’s best of seven series with the Dallas Stars has now been reduced to a best of three, special teams success or lack thereof has become a defining trait of the quartet of games (plus a few overtime periods) we have seen so far. Here is what we know for sure about Dallas: The Stars are deadly on the power play. They have scored 11 goals in the series, and eight of them have come with a member of the Wild in the penalty box.
The 42. 1% power play success rate posted by Dallas after four games was second only to Anaheim (50%). But those numbers mean that over the course of four games — two of them extended by overtime — the Stars have just three even-strength goals.
And that’s a concern. “We’ve just got to try to put the puck in the back of the net. At times, we were dominating five-on-five, so I’m not worried about generating and stuff like that,” Dallas standout forward Mikko Rantanen said after Game 4, lamenting lost chances to head back to Texas with a 3-1 series lead.
“There was definitely times where we were going to take a two- three-goal lead if we bury every chance,” Rantanen said. “But that doesn’t happen usually. Just stick with it.
” Here’s what we know for sure about Minnesota: The Wild are struggling with the man advantage. Minnesota has 14 goals in the four games. Just three of them have come on the power play.