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Stars Playoff Gameday: WCQF Game 6 @ MIN |
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Having a second chance to close out their Western Conference Quarterfinal series and looking to avert the "anything goes" nature of a seventh game, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars are on the road to take on John Torchetti's Minnesota Wild in St. Paul on Sunday afternoon. Game time at the Xcel Energy Center is 2:00 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised nationally on NBC.
The Wild prolonged the series with a 5-4 overtime win in Dallas in Game 5. The Stars, who were guilty of a host of defensive breakdowns, forged ahead late in the third period before the Wild's Mikko Koivu scored with 3:09 left in the regulation and then scored again to win the game at 4:55 of overtime. Devan Dubnyk stopped 37 of 41 Dallas shots while Antti Niemi denied just 19 of 24 Minnesota shots.
The Stars avoided taking any penalties in Game 5 that left them shorthanded and went 0-for-2 on the power play. Mikael Granlund and Jordan Schroeder gave Minnesota an early 2-0 lead before Johnny Oduya cut deficit in half late in the first period.
After a scoreless second period, the third period was a bonanza of goals and breakdowns. Jamie Benn got open to take a perfect pass from John Klingberg and beat Dubnyk just 50 seconds into the period. Fifty seconds later, the Stars' coverage issues got exposed as Nino Niederreiter slipped past Klingberg, took a Jared Spurgeon pass, and scored on a breakaway. Goals at 8:28 by Jason Spezza and 8:56 by Alex Goligoski as Minnesota hung Dubnyk out to dry gave Dallas its first and only lead of the game at 5-4 but the Stars were unable to protect the lead.
Tyler Seguin (Achilles laceration) remains out for Dallas, as does Zach Parise (back) for Minnesota. Thomas Vanek (upper body) has missed the entire series and is not expected to be ready for Game 6 but might be able to come back if there is a Game 7 in Dallas on Tuesday.