Minnesota Wild Prevail in Epic Win

The Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars slugged it out all night in the first game of the NHL Western Conference Quarterfinals. Like two seasoned boxers, both teams went toe-to-toe, throwing caution to the wind in order to snatch a victory in this crucial playoff game. And after 92 minutes and 20 seconds of hockey, the Wild walked away with a 3-2 win on a goal by Ryan Hartman halfway through the second overtime period.

The game marked the longest playoff game in Minnesota Wild history. This game was one for the ages with both teams flying up and down the ice seeking to gain an advantage over the other. But the biggest stars of the game were the two players standing at each end of the rink.

Both Goalies were Incredible

Goalies Filip Gustavsson from the Wild and Lakeville Minnesota native Dallas’ Jake Oettinger both had “do not enter’ signs on their nets all night long. Gustavsson finished with 51 saves and Oettinger stopped 48 pucks, many from point-blank range. Both goalies performed so well that Wild coach Dean Evason said after the game “Some of the saves that both of them made, it was like nobody was going to score.”

Minnesota Wild Strike First

After a tentative start, the Wild offense got untracked and this led to the team’s first score. With less than a minute left in the first period and the Minnesota Wild on a power play, Kirill Kaprizov deftly deflected a Jared Spurgeon shot past Oettinger to put Minnesota up 1-0.

Then things quickly began to unravel for the Wild as Dallas answered back with two quick power-play goals in the second period. Less than two minutes into the period, Jamie Benn won a faceoff in the Minnesota zone and passed it back to Roope Hintz who wristed a hard shot that eluded Gustavsson.

Dallas Goes Ahead

A little over two minutes later, another faceoff success would lead to the Stars’ second goal. Joe Pavelski won another draw in the Wild zone and seconds later, Jason Robertson launched a hard wrist shot from the right side that went past Gustavsson for a 2-1 Dallas lead. The momentum of the game had shifted rapidly in the Stars’ favor.

Dallas dominated the Minnesota Wild during the rest of the period. Only the standout play from Gustavsson and some blocked shots by his teammates kept the game close. Then, an unsung hero stepped forward to knot up the game.

Minnesota Wild Tie it Up

With Stars’ once again threatening in the second period, center Sam Steel blocked a Robertson shot which deflected to his linemate Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist then threaded a pass to Steel on the fly and he was off on a breakaway toward the Dallas goal. As he approached Oettinger, he made a slight move to the left and launched the puck into the upper left shelf of the goal. The score was now 2-2. Steel was only in the Wild lineup due to an injury to Joel Eriksson-Ek.

And the score remained tied until Hartman’s goal in the second OT period. During this time span, both goalies were fantastic but Oettinger in particular was out of this world. During the overtime periods, he robbed both Marcus Johansson and Hartman twice on shots that should have been game-winners.

Bad Blood

The game turned ugly in the second period when Wild defenseman Matt Dumba took Pavelski down with a hard shoulder-to-shoulder hit. Center Max Domi of the Stars took exception and shoved Dumba. They both received two-minute roughing penalties and Domi also served a 10-minute misconduct penalty for continuing the fracas. Pavelski unfortunately never returned to the game.

Dallas exacted revenge on the Minnesota Wild when Stars’ defenseman and former Wild player Ryan Suter twice illegally cross-checked Kaprizov in the back. On the second hit, Kaprizov reeled back to the bench in obvious pain.

Minnesota Wild Look Ahead to Game 2

The two teams meet again on Tuesday night in Dallas in what should be a much-watched affair. There will be heightened anticipation as to whether the bad blood from the first game spills into Tuesday’s game. Minnesota and Dallas have a history of heated moments when they square off against each other so the fireworks will definitely be exploding tomorrow night.