Wild lean on defense in Game 5, beat Dallas 4-2
DALLAS — With one of their bigger offensive elements back on the ice, the Minnesota Wild played the defensive game they desperately needed on the road to move within one win of advancing in the NHL playoffs. The Wild got goals in every period and never trailed on Tuesday, beating the Dallas Stars 4-2 at American Airlines Center to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. The story of the night was Minnesota’s defense, which killed a pair of Stars power plays and held Dallas to 22 shots on goal.
Minnesota got a first-period goal from Mats Zuccarello, who returned to the lineup after missing the past three games. Matt Boldy scored on a power play in the second period, and big man Michael McCarron got his second of the playoffs in the third. Kirill Kaprizov sealed it with an empty net goal.
Game 6 in the series will be Thursday evening at Grand Casino Arena. The start time has not yet been announced by the NHL. Jesper Wallstedt had 20 saves for Minnesota, which won Game 5 in a series tied 2-2 for just the second time in franchise history.
Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger had 24 saves in the loss. There was good news for the Wild before the first puck was dropped, with Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin returning to the lineup after both suffered upper body injuries early in the series. Zuccarello, who posted three assists in Minnesota’s 6-1 win in the series opener, wasted little time reintroducing himself to the Stars, popping a loose puck past Oettinger from the doorstep after a turnover at the blue line allowed Brock Faber to get the puck to the net.
But then a Wild player went to the penalty box, which has been the Stars’ recipe for success in this series, and they needed less than a minute of man advantage to tie the game when Miro Heiskanen’s blast from the blue line fooled Wallstedt on the glove side. But the Wild’s power play, which had struggled in the previous three games, appeared to give Minnesota the lead back with 12. 9 seconds left in the first, when Boldy went hard to the net front and the puck slid past Oettinger.