Wild vs. Stars: Game 3 five quick hits include fans turn on Ryan Suter, Wild stays disciplined, trades pay off

The Wild took a 2-1 series lead over the Dallas Stars with a 5-1 romp in Game 3 of their first-round NHL playoff series on Friday night at Xcel Energy Center and will try to sweep the two-game home set on Sunday.

Here are five takeaways from Friday's game:

1. Staying out of the box worked wonders

In a 7-3 loss at Dallas in Game 2, the Wild gave up three power-play goals as the Stars improved to 5-for-11 with the man advantage through two games.

"We've got to stay out of the box,'' Wild coach Dean Evason said Wednesday. "… We'd rather settle it five-on-five.''

Friday, a disciplined Wild team granted Evason's wish, staying out of the penalty box for the most part and killing the two power plays Dallas got.

Minnesota was a man down twice in the first period, on Jake Middleton's holding infraction at 1:04 and Ryan Reaves' roughing call at 17:13. The Wild killed both penalties, allowing only one shot on goal in each.

The Wild went penalty-free in the second period and took two coincidental minors in the third. The four-on-four situations resulted in nothing on the scoreboard for the Stars as the Wild did a solid job of playing keep-away.

"A real key point is that we stayed the heck out of the penalty box tonight, obviously, against their power play,'' Evason said Friday. "We couldn't be in the penalty box, wearing guys out.''

An added bonus on the Wild's special teams was Marcus Foligno's second-period power-play goal on a tip-in of a Gustav Nyquist shot as Minnesota went 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

2. A blow from the start

The Wild got their top two centers back at the start of the game, with Game 1 double-overtime hero Ryan Hartman centering Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, and Joel Eriksson Ek, out since April 6, in between Marcus Johansson and Matt Boldy.

Eriksson Ek's return from a lower-body injury, however, lasted only 19 seconds after he took the game's opening faceoff. He did not return, and Evason didn't have an immediate update postgame, saying Eriksson Ek would be evaluated further.

"Disappointing, obviously,'' Evason said. "… His will to get back out there with his teammates was tremendous. So, yeah, it's a tough one, for sure.''

Hartman, who missed Game 2 because of a lower-body injury, was outstanding in his return, assisting on Zuccarello's two goals and scoring an empty-netter with 1:50 left in the third period. Hartman played 18:02, was a plus-3, blocked three shots and won seven of 12 faceoffs.

3. Trades paying off in a big way

The players that Wild General Manager Bill Guerin added via trades this season have had a hand in six of the team's 10 goals in the series, including five of the past seven.

Friday, Johansson, acquired from Washington, scored his second goal of the series and was a threat with his speed all game long. "Just an elite skater, effortless, and he continues to get those opportunities because he's just continually moving his feet,'' Evason said.

Nyquist, acquired from Columbus, notched his team-leading fourth assist of the series. "He's been great,'' Hartman said. "Poised. Controls the puck.''

And defenseman John Klingberg, acquired from Anaheim, made his Wild playoff debut and assisted on both of Zuccarello's goals.

4. The little things add up

While Dallas continued to be strong on faceoffs, winning 37 of 59 (63%), the Wild negated that by taking care of the puck when they had it. Minnesota had only two giveaways to the Stars' nine, and matched Dallas with four takeaways.

Also important: The Wild didn't give up an odd-man rush.

"Our collective defensive effort was fantastic, but again it has to be otherwise they are going to score when they get their opportunities — odd-man rushes, breakaways,'' Evason said. "They're going to score, so you just cannot feed that, and we didn't tonight."

5. Fans find their target

In Games 1 and 2 in Dallas, Wild defenseman Matt Dumba was Public Enemy No. 1 because of his hit that so far has knocked Joe Pavelski out of the series, and the Stars fans let him have it.

On Friday, the Wild fans reciprocated by picking their target: former Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter, who'd taken cross-checking liberties against Kaprizov during the series opener.

Suter was a popular player in Minnesota when he and Zach Parise signed their twin 13-year, $98 million contracts in 2012, but Friday the former Wisconsin Badger saw the other side of things. Before the game, a fan in the arena's concourse was spotted wearing a Wild sweater with tape obscuring Suter's name and No. 20.

Once the game began, most of the crowd of 19,309 let loose a full-throated anti-Suter chant when Suter first appeared on the ice. It was a chant similar to one, in another era, reserved for Norm Green, the former North Stars owner who moved the franchise to Dallas.

Later in the first period, the crowd let out a big roar when Suter's stick snapped while he was taking a shot from the point, and another round of the crowd's favorite chant followed. Whenever Suter touched the puck, fans voiced their opinions.

Evason and his players took notice of how loud the building was.

"They probably had a lot of downtime before this game to have a couple beers on West 7th Street and get rowdy,'' Hartman said, noting the game's 8:51 p.m. puck drop. "We love it. It's obviously a big advantage for us.''

Added Evason, "It's been incredible, absolutely incredible, but tonight was a level that was off the charts.''