ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jake Oettinger had the privilege of taking part in in entrance of his household and the joys of backstopping the Dallas Stars to a clinching win in his native Minnesota.
Ryan Suter had the satisfaction of beating his former workforce that purchased out his contract two years in the past.
The Stars had all types of causes to cherish this victory, together with slightly additional relaxation.
Roope Hintz acquired Dallas going early, Oettinger stonewalled his home-state workforce once more and the Stars eradicated the Wild 4-1 in Game 6 of their first-round NHL playoff collection on Friday night time.
“I think the guys knew how important it was for both of us,” Suter stated, “and everyone really stepped up and competed hard for us.”
Wyatt Johnston and Mason Marchment scored within the second interval, when a burst by the Stars – swooping in for the end – outshot the Wild 18-5. Max Domi had an empty-netter within the ultimate minute.
PHOTOS: Stars bounce Wild in 6 with 3-1 win behind Hintz, Oettinger
Oettinger made 22 saves for the Stars, who superior to face the Colorado-Seattle winner. The Avalanche beat the Kraken on Friday to pressure Game 7.
Oettinger was bidding for his second shutout of the collection earlier than Freddy Gaudreau scored for the Wild with 7:07 left.
“He’s our brick wall back there, and we trust him. Any time we make mistakes, he’s there for us,” Marchment stated. “We wouldn’t be here without him.”
Filip Gustavsson, beginning a fourth consecutive sport for the primary time in his first season with Minnesota, stopped 23 pictures in two durations. Marc-Andre Fleury, who was in internet for a 7-3 loss at Dallas in Game 2, took over within the third.
The Wild fell to 5-14 on dwelling ice within the playoffs because the final time they superior, a first-round win over St. Louis in 2015. They are 4-13 in franchise historical past in postseason collection.
The Stars misplaced in seven video games within the first spherical to Calgary final 12 months. With heart Joe Pavelski anticipated again for the subsequent spherical after lacking the final 5 video games with a concussion, they’re in place to make one other push for the Stanley Cup Finals they reached within the 2020 pandemic bubble.
STRONG START
The raucous crowd was buzzing early, however the followers simply by no means acquired rewarded. Ryan Hartman had an open internet for a rebound that rolled simply out of attain for a clear shot, and Oettinger and Suter instantly lined up the crease to forestall one other attempt. Just seconds later, Hintz went the opposite approach to ship a top-shelf shot that sailed over Gustavsson’s glove.
“They’re so good around the net. That was a focal point for us in the series, and I thought tonight was our best defensive game,” Oettinger stated.
Hintz has 5 targets and leads the NHL playoffs with 12 factors, serving to the highest line proceed to thrive with out Pavelski whereas Tyler Seguin deftly moved as much as be a part of him and Jason Robertson.
“We wouldn’t be sitting here moving on to the next round tonight without Tyler Seguin’s contributions in this series,” coach Peter DeBoer stated.
The workforce that scored first received all six video games within the collection.
POWER FAILURE
The Wild lastly stayed out of the penalty field, rendering a Stars energy play that was 9 for 22 over the primary 5 video games a nonfactor. But the Wild may as properly have declined the penalties referred to as on the Stars, as a result of their energy play – 0 for two within the sport and 4 for 22 within the collection – was once more a momentum-killer as an alternative of a momentum-builder. The crowd booed towards the tip of their first 5-on-4 dud.
“Sick to my stomach about it,” Hartman stated. “This city deserves better than what we gave them. The fans, they’ve shown up for us all year and we we failed them.”
The Wild constantly created attractiveness on the internet, however their passing and capturing contact was off the mark all collection and ran out of steam after the primary intermission. Evgenii Dadonov flipped a no-look move from behind the online into the slot, the place an uncontested Johnston scored his first aim of the collection.
Soon after Mats Zuccarello’s open shot sailed over the crossbar, the Stars delivered a giant blow when Marchment scored with simply 0.5 seconds left earlier than the second intermission.
BROKEN RECORD
The Wild took a 2-1 lead on St. Louis within the playoffs final 12 months earlier than dropping three straight video games, too.
Kirill Kaprizov was their heartbeat of that collection in opposition to the Blues, however the celebrity left wing struggled to get going this 12 months after a aim in Game 1. Suter and fellow blue-liner Miro Heiskanen made Kaprizov work for each inch of ice and steadily met him with punishing checks.
“For the most of the games, I thought we were the better team and we still ended up losing. That’s probably the most frustrating,” Zuccarello stated. “Maybe last year I think you have a feeling you lost to a better team.”
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