Minnesota Wild Gameday Playoff Preview: Game 4 vs. the Stars – The Hockey Writers – Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars are at the halfway point of Round 1, and the Stars have a 2-1 lead in the series. The Wild took Game 1, but the Stars responded and took Games 2 and 3. It’s been an intense series so far that has led to both teams having to deal with injuries to their lineup. The Wild lost Mats Zuccarello for Games 2 and 3; his status for Game 4 is questionable. 

They also lost Yakov Trenin in Game 3, and he will not play in Game 4. The rest of the Wild’s lineup should be the same from Game 3, including their goaltender, Jesper Wallstedt. In this article, we’ll look at a few storylines to follow for Game 4, starting with the Wild’s confidence level. 

Wild Remain Confident 

It was easy to see the Wild’s confidence level after their Game 1 win and even their Game 2 loss, but after the difficult 2OT loss in Game 3, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see them a little defeated. While they were more subdued, they remained confident that they could still win. They didn’t make excuses or blame the officiating, instead they took responsibility and acknowledged they have to be better. 

It’s easier for them to have confidence in their group because of how they’ve played this series. Although they’ve lost two games, they didn’t get crushed in either one. They struggled at times, of course, but they played strongly. 

“We’re still confident in our group. That was a heck of a hockey game. Back and forth, lot of chances, goals, saves, everything. It’s a long series. We were up 2-1 last year, too. This whole narrative that we’re frustrated and all this, that’s not true. We’re still confident in our group. Let’s nip that in the bud now because it’s made up,” said Matt Boldy to the media after Game 3 when asked about how close the games are. 

Wild’s Power Play Needs Success

The Wild won Game 1 partially because of their success on the power play, and they struggled in Game 2 because they couldn’t continue that success. They did find it again in Game 3, but just once, and it wasn’t enough, especially when they had two power plays in overtime and couldn’t find a way to convert on either of them. 

In Game 4 the Wild need their power play to step up again and they have to score. They have to force the puck to the net as much as possible and not waste too much time on the perimeter. They did do that in their earlier games, but they struggled to score, and that can’t happen in the rest of the series. 

“Just keep going. I mean, you never know when you’re going to get hot on the power play. Might be next game. It could be the game after that. Like I just said, whether we were 4-for-4 on the power play tonight or 0-for-whatever we were, that doesn’t change how we have to approach the next game. You know, we’re going to need it again. Obviously, we had our looks to be the difference, and it just didn’t go,” said Quinn Hughes to the media after Game 3 about the special teams battle. 

Wild Have to Play Smart

While they need their power play to step up big, they also need to keep their penalty kill usage to a minimum, which means staying out of the penalty box. That may sound like a pretty simple strategy, but when playing a team like the Stars, it’s more difficult than it may seem. The Stars know how to push the Wild’s buttons and have gotten them to respond a few times. 

Thankfully, the Wild know the Stars are going to do that and have kept the retaliation to a minimum, unlike previous postseasons. They still have to play carefully and smartly as they’ve seen how lethal the Stars can be. 

“Well, I thought we kept them well to the outside, and when we gave up shots, I thought I had a pretty good line to see it. It was at the end there that they ended up tipping it, but before that I felt like we were in good positions. We didn’t give them too much, and when we gave them something, we could control them,” said Jesper Wallstedt to the media after Game 3 about the penalty kill. 

It’ll be interesting to see what team comes out of the Wild and if they’ll be able to take down the Stars, who have found ways to win games. Hopefully, the Wild can take Game 4 and keep things going in the right direction.