Looking to take a commanding three games to none lead in their Western Conference Quarterfinal playoff series, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars are on the road on Monday night to take on John Torchetti's Minnesota Wild. Game time at XCel Energy Center in St. Paul is 7:30 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest and CNBC.
In Game 2 on Saturday night, the Wild put up a much stronger fight against the Stars than they did in the series opener. Dallas prevailed, 2-1, after shutting out the Wild (4-0) in Game One.
A fluke goal by Antoine Roussel -- after a Minnesota turnover, the puck bounced off Roussel's skate directly behind the Minnesota net, then off goalie Devan Dubnyk's back and then finally dropped over the goal line as Dubnyk leaned back into the goal posts and the net came off its moorings -- gave the Stars a 1-0 lead early in the second period. After a long replay delay, an initial no-goal ruling on the ice was reversed.
Midway through the third period, Stars captain Jamie Benn extended the lead to 2-0 on a breakaway up the left wing. After steadying a bouncing puck, Benn cut in to the right and slid a backhander past Dubnyk. Two minutes later, a Marco Scandella power play goal cut the Dallas lead back to one goal and put the Wild on the board for the first time in the series. They could not find an equalizer.
Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves to take first-star honors in Game 2. Dubnyk turned back 26 of 28 Stars shots.
The Stars got top-line center Tyler Seguin back in the lineup in Game 2 for the first time since he suffered an Achilles tendon laceration. He skated 15:40 in this return. Dallas got Mattias Janmark back in Game One, although he played sparingly and was a semi-healthy scratch in Game Two. Ruff indicated to the media on Sunday that Janmark would likely be back in the lineup for Game Three.
The bad news for the Wild is that they are still without two of their main offensive weapons. Neither Zach Parise (upper body) nor Thomas Vanek (upper body) are available for Game Three. That did not stop the Wild from putting forth a greatly improved all-around effort in the previous game in Dallas. The first goal of Game Three will be crucial. If the Wild can play from ahead for the first time in the series, they may be able to force the Stars into careless mistakes. Minnesota needs to start generating more movement in the offensive zone.