Penalty kill fails Wild in Game 4 loss to Stars, face elimination Friday

Since a leopard can't change its spots, it probably was a matter of time before the Wild's penalty kill reverted to its ugly form.

The problem is this time, the Wild's feeble PK, which had been so efficient the first three games of the series, put the team's season on the brink.

During a five-goal second period in Wednesday night's Game 4, the Wild coughed up a pair of one-goal leads because it was incapable of killing either of Dallas' two power plays. After tying the score a second time, the Stars rode a late second-period go-ahead goal by Jason Spezza to the finish line for an eventual 3-2 victory at Xcel Energy Center.

The Wild heads into Friday's Game 5 in Dallas trailing the first-round series three games to one.

"They feed a lot off their power play, and tonight was a good example of it," said Jason Pominville, who scored one of the Wild's two goals. When you lose the special-teams battle, you're usually not going to win the game. That's what happened."

Teams that hold a 3-1 lead own an all-time series record of 255-28 (90.1 percent) in the NHL. The Wild rallied from a pair of 3-1 deficits in 2003.

"We have dug ourselves out of tough situations all year, so we've got to do it again," Pominville said. "We have an opportunity to do something special and something that doesn't happen that often."

The Wild pushed in the third period. It outshot the Stars 14-2, but Antti Niemi, making his first start in this series, was flawless to complete a 28-save performance. The Wild couldn't score on a 6-on-4 advantage that lasted 1 minute, 24 seconds to close the game.

"I told the players straight up, we have to execute there and just get it done," interim coach John Torchetti said.

With veteran penalty killers Jarret Stoll and Ryan Carter healthy scratches, the Wild gave up power-play goals not long after Pominville and Charlie Coyle gave Minnesota leads. The Wild's penalty kill ranked 27th in the regular season but had killed 12 of 13 power plays heading into Game 4.

"We've got to get a kill," said Mikael Granlund, who along with Justin Fontaine was on for both power-play goals.

The second period was the type of roller coaster that epitomized the season. Pominville gave the Wild a 1-0 lead with his third goal of the series, but 2:16 later, Matt Dumba, whose tough series continued Wednesday, took a delay-of-game penalty.

The Wild killed 1:53 of the power play, but defenseman Ryan Suter awkwardly sidestepped Ales Hemsky's shooting lane and Hemsky blew a shot through Colton Sceviour's screen to tie the score at 1-1.

"We have to block that shot," Torchetti said. "We have to get in that lane, and we have to commit to doing the job there."

Only 63 seconds later, Coyle scored a terrific goal. After poking a puck off the stick of defenseman Alex Goligoski at the Wild blue line, Coyle got a step on Goligoski and received Jason Zucker's pass.

While dragging Goligoski up ice to draw a delayed penalty, Coyle deked and scored a backhanded goal for a 2-1 lead. It was Coyle's first goal since March 1, ending a 21-game drought.

But that elation would be short-lived. Just 2:14 later, Nino Niederreiter took a slashing penalty and Patrick Eaves, skating alone in front of Devan Dubnyk, redirected Kris Russell's shot for a 2-2 game.

Things got worse for the Wild's special teams. Erik Haula drew a penalty late in the period, but the Wild couldn't score on the ensuing power play. Fourteen seconds after it expired, Spezza got a step on Pominville and a Jason Demers pass deflected in off Spezza's skate.

"We are best when our backs are against the wall. They're definitely against the wall now," Suter said. "We have to come out with that same intensity, that same urgency, and stay out of the box."

Added Torchetti, "We just have to go and win a game in their building. I'm looking forward to seeing who is going to step up."