Wild Game Day 2015-16 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Game 5
Wild Series Record (1-3) Game 1 Wild 0 @Stars 4 Game 2 Wild 1 @ Stars 2 Game 3 Stars 3 @Wild 5 Game 4 Stars 3 @ Wild 2
Wild Regular Season Record (38-33-11 87 pts) 5th Place Central Division. #8 Seed Western Conference Home Record (21-16-4) Road Record (17-17-7)
Dallas Stars Regular Season Record (50-23-9 109 pts) 1st Place Central Division, #1 Seed Western Conference Home Record (28-11-2) Road Record (22-12-7)
All-Time Record vs. Dallas Stars 23-37-1 @ HOME 16-14-0 @ Dallas 7-23-1
Regular 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
Site: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
Time: 8:30PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN) NBC Sports (NBCSN)
The Wild face elimination for the first time tonight in Dallas after dropping game 4 in St. Paul Wednesday night 3-2. By no means is this series over though. John Torchetti has his team playing a much more complete game since the game 1 whitewash in Dallas. One can argue that the Wild have actually been the better of the two teams over most of the last three games, but only have one to show for their effort.
Game 3 saw the Wild take two, one goal leads before Dallas grabbed the lead for good late in the 2nd period. The Wild had a number of very good scoring opportunities throughout game 4 but it appeared that they had reverted back to trying to be too precise looking for the perfect scoring chance. That is not the Wild's game and when they play that way the result is usually not favorable.
Late in the 3rd period with Minnesota on a powerplay and Dubnyk pulled for the extra skater, the Wild failed generate any really good scoring threats to get the game tied. They did not get anyone in front of Dallas netminder Antti Niemi and appeared content to pass the puck around the perimeter in search of the perfect passing lane to open up the back door. The best powerplay units are the ones that move the puck quickly with two crisp passes that generate a quality shot attempt with traffic in front of the goaltender. The Wild powerplay needs to get back to this approach tonight as special teams will be a huge factor.
Torchetti has his team playing hard, now they need to start generating more scoring chances. The Stars defense is leaky and their goaltending is just average. Those two factors should allow the Wild to have ample opportunities to score. But in order for that to happen the Wild attack must be simple and the puck movement must be quick. Another problem the Wild forwards had in game 4, was a lack of strong puck control. There were too many cases where the Wild forwards attempted a play and fanned on the pass attempt or flubbed it into a giveaway. That can't happen especially with the offensive talent the Stars possess.
Expect the Wild to come out strong throwing everything at the Stars net in an effort to get the early momentum swing in their favor. The Stars will be hungry to end this tonight as they know they do not want to come back to St. Paul if they don't have to. The series may be 3 to 1 in Dallas' favor but don't tell that to the Wild. They are well prepared to win this game and bring the series back to Minnesota for a game 6 on Sunday.
Let's Go Wild!
Let's Play Hockey!