Adversity never used to make the Wild flinch.
Wild's worst stretch of season continues with 6-3 loss to Dallas
Two third-period goals by Kirill Kaprizov with an extra attacker closed the Stars' lead to 4-3, but two Dallas empty-netters settled matters.
March 7, 2022 at 1:35PM
Now, it signals the team's downfall.
"We are a fragile group right now," coach Dean Evason said.
An unsuccessful coach's challenge and ensuing power play goal was the knockout punch this time, en route to a 6-3 fiasco to the Stars on Sunday afternoon in front of 18,791 at Xcel Energy Center that extended the Wild's most dreadful stretch of the season.
Not only has the Wild dropped eight of its past 10 games, but the repercussions are spilling over into the standings. With the win, which included Jason Robertson's second hat trick in as many games and former Blaine standout Riley Tufte's first NHL goal, Dallas matched the Wild's 67 points after being 11 back at the All-Star break.
The Wild still has the edge for third place in the Central Division but only because it's played one fewer game than the Stars.
"We're trying to stop it," Nico Sturm said. "I'm telling you it's not for a lack of effort. Like everybody in the locker room realizes what's going on. We're sliding. All the good things that we do doesn't seem to work out, and the bad things just become magnified.
"It's like you're making like a little mistake, and it just blows up."
This latest malfunction came after a spirited start by the Wild, which saw Sturm score on a breakaway 10 minutes, 52 seconds into the first period.
But the team had plenty more opportunities to pad its lead, and not capitalizing came back to haunt it.
Dallas pulled even with 3 seconds left in the period on a power play goal from Joe Pavelski, who whacked a bouncing puck off the Wild's Dmitry Kulikov and past a sprawled Kaapo Kahkonen. The goalie was down after getting bumped into by teammate Frederick Gaudreau, who was tangled up with Tyler Seguin after Seguin crashed the crease.
"You see the right foot of Seguin make contact first before Gauds hits [Kahkonen]," Evason said. "So, to us, that initiates the contact."
The NHL saw the play differently.
After the Wild challenged for goaltender interference, the situation room confirmed the goal by explaining it was Gaudreau who impeded Kahkonen. And because it was a failed challenge, the Wild was dinged with a delay of game penalty.
"Hindsight maybe we shouldn't have called it," Evason said.
On the power play that carried over to the second, Robertson buried a dropped save by Kahkonen just 1:38 into the period, giving the Stars a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"If you're a fragile group, you can't allow easy goals and/or not get goals when you have 5-on-4," said Evason, after the Wild power play went 0-for-4, compared to 2-for-3 for Dallas. "Our special teams have got to be better."
The snowball continued with Tufte's first career goal in front of family and friends, as he swept a rebound by Kahkonen only 1:35 later. Then, at 9:52, Robertson's shot trickled through Kahkonen, chasing him from the game. He exited with 17 saves, and Cam Talbot made three stops in relief.
"I have to be better on those," Kahkonen said.
As for Lakeville's Jake Oettinger, the Stars goalie was impressive in a 32-save showing.
Not until the Wild pulled Talbot in the third period did it finally get the puck by Oettinger after Sturm's early tally, and both goals were from Kirill Kaprizov (at 16:19 and 18:03), bringing his season total to 28. Kaprizov has five goals during a five-game point streak, and his 70 points overall are the fifth-most in Wild history.
Those two tallies at 6-on-5 (the Wild leads the NHL with 17) cut the team's deficit to a goal but after several misses at the Wild's empty net, Dallas eventually hit the target twice: Jamie Benn at 18:55 and Robertson with 32 seconds to go; he became the fourth active NHLer to register a hat trick in consecutive games and just the second player to do so in Stars/North Stars history.
"I've been watching from afar, and I got to be in the room tonight," said Matt Dumba, who returned from a 10-game absence due to injury. "I can't really put a finger on it."
But the investigation continues.
"Like Dumbs just said in the locker room," Sturm said, "we've got to take a look in the mirror tonight and ask ourselves if that's all we got right now."
The Wild have been the surprise of the league as their high-scoring winger makes a shambles of team scoring records.
