Happy. Upset. Confident. Disappointed. Frustrated.
Penalties, missed chances have Wild in desperate playoff situation vs. Dallas
The team's physical style has worked against it as the Wild sit on the brink of postseason elimination.
April 27, 2023 at 12:15AM
The Wild have been on an emotional rollercoaster ever since the playoffs started, but all they need to feel now is desperation to extend their season in a must-win Game 6 on Friday at Xcel Energy Center after falling behind 3-2 to Dallas in the best-of-seven series.
"This is a good opportunity for us to play our best hockey," coach Dean Evason said.
From the get-go, the Wild have been up and down.
They gutted out a bend-don't-break, 3-2 double-overtime victory in Game 1 before unraveling 7-3 in the rematch, with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury ticked off that he couldn't help the Wild keep rolling. Their 5-1 reset in Game 3 was the sharpest they've looked against the Stars and a boost to their belief despite Joel Eriksson Ek's return from injury lasting only 19 seconds. But the Wild's progress stalled when missed chances and questionable penalties evened the series.
All these issues compounded in Game 5, a 4-0 blowout by Dallas on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center that answered why the Wild are one loss away from getting bounced from yet another first round.
"We've had a one-game-at-a-time mentality all year obviously," Evason said. "So, it's one at a time."
Whether the penalties are suspect, borderline or legit, the Wild are consistently shorthanded and the Stars' power play is having a field day.
Although the Wild's penalty kill improved from its woeful display last season to finish in the top 10, they've given up a grim nine goals to Dallas through 22 power plays; not only are those nine tallies the most in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but they're more than half of the Stars' total offense in the series. The Wild are outscoring Dallas 8-6 when the action is 5-on-5.
"We're strong at even strength," Frederick Gaudreau said. "We're strong when we don't have to chase the game. The best PK for us is to stay out of the box and build from there."
This funk is making the team's physicality a liability because the PK hasn't been able to bail out the Wild when they are dinged for the gritty style they've prioritized. Both of the hits by Marcus Foligno that were whistled as penalties in Game 4 led to power-play goals, and the Stars capitalized during the five-minute power play in Game 5 after Foligno was ejected for kneeing Radek Faksa.
Another eyesore? The Wild's 29.4% on faceoffs while shorthanded is worst in the league.
"We have to stay out of the box," Evason said. "We would've liked a few more calls. We got a couple of diving calls against them, which was maybe a little bit too late. We think there's some of that going on.
"We don't want to whine, but there are calls out there."
Dallas' infractions, however, are becoming a moot point because the Wild continue to botch their power plays. Their 0-for-3 turnout on Tuesday dropped them to 4-for-20 overall, and only two of those goals came in wins.
"We've got to move the puck a little bit quicker," Marcus Johansson said, "and get pucks to the net."
But production, regardless of manpower, has become a problem.
The clutch saves Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger made in Game 4 were just the appetizer to a 27-save shutout. Kirill Kaprizov hasn't scored since the first period of Game 1, the four games he's gone without a point the longest dry spell of his NHL career, while Matt Boldy has been limited to just three assists.
"This is our team," Evason said. "This is our group. We can make a few changes. We've got new people, depth, that we've talked about all year that we feel can come in and play. But we believe that they'll get the job done, the guys on the ice will get the job done."
Yes, the Wild were down a forward almost all of Game 5 since Foligno was kicked out, a game misconduct he and Evason disputed.
"We don't think he changed his path," Evason said of Foligno's hit on Raksa. "He could've changed his path and probably stepped in hard. If anything, their guy changed paths. We watched it several times: He does not move. Moose does not move, doesn't move his legs, nothing. He stays straight. He braces himself. Incidental contact. Two big men.
"If anything, we thought their guy moved and our guy did not."
The possible remedy to the Wild's PK/faceoffs/PP troubles is also sidelined, Eriksson Ek's two-way talent a glaring omission from the lineup.
But the Wild can't change what's already happened. All they can control is what happens next.
"We don't feel sorry for ourselves," Evason said. "Nobody feels sorry for us. We've been resilient all year. Yeah, we've had some breaks go the other way. We've had some situations where reality a penalty that wasn't a penalty or whatever, but that happens all the time. They've had them, too.
"So we're positive. We're looking forward and we're looking forward to Game 6."
The Wild have been the surprise of the league as their high-scoring winger makes a shambles of team scoring records.
