Looking to grab a two-game lead in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars host John Torchetti's Minnesota Wild on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center. Game time is 7 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest and nationally on NBCSN.
Entering the series, the Stars were prohibitive favorites to advance to the next round. Dallas' 4-0 victory in Game One did little to change that perception. Dallas cannot afford to coast in Game 2. They need to replicate their performance of Thursday.
Even in a scoreless first period, the Stars outshot the Wild by a 14-2 margin. Finally, the Stars broke through against Devan Dubnyk (28 saves on 31 shots) for second-period goals by Radek Faksa and Jason Spezza. Patrick Eaves added some third-period insurance before Jamie Benn completed a three-point night (one goal, two assists) with an empty-net tally. Kari Lehtonen recorded a 22-save shutout.
The underdog Wild remain without injured Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek, who did not make the trip to Dallas for Games One and Two. However, center Erik Haula, who also missed game one, appears likely to return on Saturday from a lower-body injury.
The Stars did not have top-line center Tyler Seguin (Achilles tendon laceration) for the series opener. He is officially a game-day decision but declared himself ready to go after participating in an optional practice on Friday in Frisco. Mattias Janmark was back in the lineup in Game One (10:34 of ice time, two shots on goal) after being questionable going into the game. Brett Ritchie (lower body) remains unavailable.
Lehtonen was tabbed to start Game One because he was the hot hand down the stretch. That carried over into his shutout performance in the series opener. Including Thurs'day night's victory, the big Finn has won seven of his last eight starts, with two shutouts. Overall, he's posted a 1.76 goals-against average and .932 save percentage during that stretch.
Game Three will take place in St. Paul on Monday.