The Minnesota Wild haven’t won a Stanley Cup playoff series since 2015, losing in the first round eight times since then.
So with the Wild staring at a 2-1 deficit heading into Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series against the Dallas Stars on Saturday in Saint Paul, are they feeling a little antsy?
“We’re confident in our group,” Wild forward Matt Boldy said. “It’s a long series, so this whole narrative that we’re frustrated and all this, that’s not true. We’re so confident in our group, so let’s nip that in the bud now because it’s made up.”
Minnesota looked superior when it blew away the Stars 6-1 in Game 1, but then Dallas answered back with a 4-2 win in Game 2 on Monday.
The Wild and Stars then battled into double overtime in Game 3 on Wednesday before Dallas prevailed 4-3.
“From my experience, and I think in the last few years, I’ve been in about three of these that went a couple periods and I don’t think it gives you any momentum other than the win for carryover,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Whether it’s 6-1 or in OT, I think every game is its own entity. Momentum can swing in a series so quickly both ways. It’s just like, tuck it away and move on.”
Both teams agree the difference in Game 3 was special teams.
Dallas went 3-for-8 with the man-advantage and Minnesota was 1-for-7.
“You never know when you’re going to get hot on the power play,” Minnesota defenseman Quinn Hughes said. “It could be the next game, could be the game after that. Whether we were 4-for-4 on the power play or whatever we were, that doesn’t change how we have to approach the next game.”
Dallas had the second-best power play during the regular season at 28.6%, with the Wild right behind at 25.2%.
“You look around the league, it comes down to (special teams),” Dallas forward Jason Robertson said. “Every team is so tight, every team defends hard. You’ve got to take advantage when you can. We definitely think we can improve a little bit of our 5-on-5 offense, and we’ll look at that and try to improve for Game 4.”
Stars forward Wyatt Johnston, who led the NHL with 27 power-play goals during the regular season, which was a franchise record, has scored with the man advantage in each of the past two games.
“It’s important to capitalize when you get those (power-play) chances,” Johnston said. “I just try to pitch in and do what I can to help.”
Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello will be a game-time decision on Saturday because of a lower-body injury that kept him out of Games 2 and 3. Zuccarello had three assists in the Game 1 victory.
Yakov Trenin will also miss his second straight game after the Minnesota forward was injured in Game 2. Trenin was the only Minnesota player to appear in all 82 regular-season games, totaling six goals and 17 assists.
The Stars will remain without forward Roope Hintz, who has played just one game since the Olympic break because of a lower-body injury.
“It’s the time of year where you just got to stick with it,” Gulutzan said. “You can’t get frustrated. It’s not even an emotion that helps at this time of the year.”
