Wild Game Day 2015-16 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Game 4
Wild Series Record (1-2) Game 1 Wild 0 @Stars 4 Game 2 Wild 1 @ Stars 2 Game 3 Stars 3 @Wild 5
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: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN
Time: 8:30PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN) NBC Sports (NBCSN)
Tonight is another must win for the Wild as they look to hold serve on home ice. The Wild effort has been improving with each game in the series. Tonight will need to be their best effort if they expect to tie the series, as the Stars will most certainly bring a better effort of their own tonight.
John Torchetti challenged his team and more importantly he singled out individual players to raise their level and to be more accountable. That had immediate results both on the ice and on the scoreboard. This is now Torchetti's team, he is putting his stamp on this group, whether he is here beyond this season is still to be determined, but for now this team is his and he is making that known to his players.
Stars coach, Lindy Ruff, was not at all pleased with his teams' performance in game three. Ruff's quote after the game was "We didn't play near as well as we needed to play, probably as bad as I've seen us Playin maybe five weeks" Ruff is one of the league's best coaches and he always has his teams well prepared. Expect the Stars to come out flying and try to get the Wild on their heels.
The Wild on the other hand are starting to show signs that they are coming together as a unit. The strong efforts in games two and three, combined with the fact that they overcame a two goal deficit to win game three has the Wild playing with greater confidence. Tonight they have another opportunity to build on that team concept.
The playoffs are a grind and one game does not necessarily reflect the next, but confidence and team play go a long way in determining the outcome of games and ultimately series. The Wild look as though they are now playing for each other more so than they have at any point this season. That is what it takes to win in the playoffs, and no better time for them to be coming together.
The Wild are still behind in the series but it feels more like they are engaged in the battle now. The fans at Xcel are going to be a big key tonight. The Stars kinda took them out of the game early Monday, but the Wild dug deep and made a game of it and brought the crowd back into the game. In the third period the Wild really appeared to feed off of the energy from the sellout crowd as they brought home win number one of the series.
Tonight the series intensity level will surely be amped up again and the Wild will be ready. Torchetti has his team playing an inspired game and the compete level is back. Tonight should be a fun one in St. Paul, expect a full fever pitch from the crowd and an inspired effort from both the Stars and the Wild. Playoff hockey in the state of hockey, does it get any better?
Let's Go Wild!
Let's Play Hockey!