Recap

Game one went into double overtime after Kirill Kaprizov (Wild) opened up scoring for the game late in the first period. Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson would go on to score off two powerplays early in the second period, giving Dallas the 2-1 advantage; Sam Steel would end up scoring for Minnesota, tying the game. The third period would be scoreless.

The game then went overtime; where Minnesota would take a slashing penalty, but with a successful kill they allowed the game to go to the second overtime. Minnesota took another penalty around halfway through the second OT when Frédérick Gaudreau went off for tripping; after another successful kill, Minnesota winger Ryan Hartman scored the game-winner capping things at 3-2.

Game two was tight; at the end of the first, Dallas forward Roope Hintz scored a short-handed goal, and Tyler Seguin got one on the powerplay. Only for the Wild’s Oskar Sundqvist to score one, cutting the Star’s lead by one (2-1).

In period two, Dallas scored two goals early on only to have Minnesota follow with a goal off of the powerplay and then an even-strength goal in less than a minute. With the score at 4-3; Dallas extended their lead with goals from Evgenii Dadonov and another from Roope Hintz. During the penalty-filled third period, seven game-misconduct penalties were awarded and Roope Hintz completed his hat trick finalizing the score at 7-3.

Game three was the Wilds’ only other win of the series, During the first period Wild forward; Mats Zuccarello scored the first goal of the game. No one else would score until Marcus Johansson did so two minutes into the second period, his goal would quickly be followed by Dallas forward Luke Glendening’s first of the playoffs.

Halfway through the game, the Wild would go on the powerplay where Marcus Foligno would score. The third would be filled with action but no one would score until Mats Zuccarello got his second of the game with around five minutes left in play. Dallas would pull their goalie in an attempt to salvage the game but all efforts would be unsuccessful as Ryan Hartman got an empty net goal leaving the final score at 4-1 Minnesota.

Game four was a close game; with a scoreless and penalty-less first period, Dallas’s Tyler Seguin would get the first goal of the game after Marcus Foligno got called for Interference with around five minutes left on the clock. The period wrapped up with an unsuccessful powerplay for Minnesota. Dallas would score again at the beginning of the third making the score 2-0 but Minnesota would soon clap back cutting the lead down by one.

Marcus Foligno would get a penalty tripping allowing Tyler Seguin to get his second powerplay goal of the game. Minnesota would pull their goalie and get a goal off a tripping penalty called for Dallas but that would not be enough as Dallas managed to get a 3-2 win.

Game five did not go in Minnesota’s favor as Tyler Seguin scored his fourth goal of the playoffs in the first three minutes of play after Marcus Foligno got a five-minute major for kneeing. The Stars would get yet another powerplay goal when Jacob Middleton would get called for cross-checking.

Minnesota would also have an unsuccessful second period as the only goal would be scored by Dallas’s Mason Marchment in the first two minutes of play. The third would be equally unsuccessful for Minnesota as this time Ty Dellandrea would get the only goal, allowing Jake Oettinger to get the 4-0 shutout.

Game six would end Minnesotas’ time in the playoffs. Roope Hintz would start things off by getting his fourth goal of the playoffs. Later Minnesota would have two unsuccessful powerplays after Dallas got called for tripping twice. Wyatt Johnston would score Dallas’s first goal of the second period; only to have Mason Marchment followed up by scoring at the final second of play. Filip Gustavsson was replaced by Marc-André Fleury to start the third.

Minnesota managed to get their only goal of the game thanks to a goal off the backhand from Frédérick Gaudreau at the top of the net. During the final minutes of the game, Fleury was pulled to allow an extra man on for the Wild; but Max Domi would take advantage of the empty net ending the game at 4-1 Dallas.

Stats

1. Filip Gustavsson hosted a .921 save percentage for five games played (Regular season .939; in 39 games) and allowed 12 goals on 151 shots.
2. Marc-André Fleury hosted a .811 save percentage across two games played (Regulars season .908 across 46 games) and allowed 7 goals on 37 shots.
3. The Minnesota Wild racked up 121 penalty minutes with Marcus Foligno having the most at 35 minutes.
4. Frédérick Gaudreau led the team in goals with three (19 regular season).
5. Gustav Nyquist had the most assists with five while only having four in the regular season (3 games played.
6. Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, and Gustav Nyquist led the team in playoff points with 5 a piece (Regular season: Zuccarello 67, Hartman 37, Nyquist 5)

Thoughts

1. Minnesota seemed to have things under control for the first game and third games but allowed things to slip
2. Was there too much pressure on Kaprizov and Spurgeon to be super performers, some other Wild players need to step up
3. The Wild need to work on being aggressive from the beginning and not just trying to get come-from-behind wins
4. What will coaching look like next season?
5. The Wild desperately need to get goaltenders that can have more consistent playoff goaltending so what will the offseason bring?