Wild Game Day number 47
Wild Record (30-11-5 65 pts)
Road Record (14-5-5)
Opponent: Dallas Stars (19-20-9 47 pts)
Home Record (12-7-5)
Site: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Time: 7:30PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last Season Results
11/14 Wild 2 @ Stars 3 (OT)
11/28 Stars 4 @ Wild 3 (OT)
12/21 Stars 6 @ Wild 3
1/9 Wild 2 @ Stars 1
2/9 Stars 4 @ Wild 3
Playoff Series Results
Game 1 Wild 0 @Stars 4
Game 2 Wild 1 @ Stars 2
Game 3 Stars 3 @Wild 5
Game 4 Stars 3 @ Wild 2
Game 5 Wild 5 @ Stars 4 (OT)
Game 6 Stars 5 @ Wild 4
Last Result:
10/29 Stars 0 @ Wild 4
11/21 Wild 2 @ Stars 3 (OT)
1/14 Wild 5 @ Stars 4
Tonight the Wild will be making their third straight trip to Dallas when they face the Stars. The last visit a week ago Saturday saw the Wild jump out to a 4-0 first period lead chasing Stars netminder Antii Niemi after scoring on all three shots he faced.
Kari Lehtonen came in in relief and did allow the fourth Wild tally but kept the Wild off the board long enough for the Stars to eventually tie the game at 4 in the third period. Jason Zucker was able bang home Mikael Grandlund's cross crease pass for the eventual game winner late in the third period.
Much has been made of the Stars lackluster season to date and most of the hockey scribes had them projected much higher in the standings coming off their Western Conference leading 109 point season from a year ago.
The fact is that the Stars goaltending has been suspect for a few years now and that 109 point season was even more impressive given the up and down play of both goalies. The strength of the Dallas Stars is their offense without a doubt and the fact that they battled the injury bug throughout the first half of the season has them right where they should be.
That said they are still very capable of scoring with the best of them and the Wild need to keep the Stars from making this a track meet. Dallas is a proud team and they know that they need to make a move now if they want to be in the playoff conversation come Spring.
For Minnesota the task is much the same as it has been the last several games. Dictate the flow of the game and get shots though to the net as often as possible. Keep the game simple use their speed and limit the extra Stars chances.
Easy to say, not so easy to execute in a road building against a desperate division foe. Dallas will be ready and they will be hungry to show that the comeback that fell short just over a week ago was no fluke. They will be better prepared for tonight and if the Wild want to earn the two points they will have to bring a much better effort than we have seen the last few games at home and the last performance in Dallas.
Let's Play Hockey!
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