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The Minnesota Wild showed why they are the underdogs in Game 1 of the first round series against the Dallas Stars Thursday night. They were held to just a pitiful two shots in the first period, weren't able to generate many opportunities and were shutout 4-0. Devan Dubnyk tried his best to be our hero but with no help from the offense, particularly on the PP, they were bound to lose. Duub can steal games, sure, but it's impossible to win 0-0.
Last Game:
On Thursday night the Wild started out slow and slowly gained minimal momentum. They were held to 2 shots in the first period, improved slightly with 11 in the second period and then went down to 9 shots in the third for a total of 22. A lot of this had to do with Dallas taking their foot on the gas when they had a (seemingly) insurmountable 2-0 lead. The Wild were 0-2 on the power play, but didn't even look dangerous as they mustered just one measly scoring chance.
Match-up Preview:
The Wild are once again trying to snap a losing streak (now at 6 games, going back to the regular season). They have their work cut out for them especially after Thursday nights performance; but they could come out flying and surprise the stars and fans. Haula practiced on Friday and could be in the lineup tonight which would put the Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula, Jason Pominville line back together and hopefully help shut down some of the stars deadly offensive strength.
Dubynk did not practice Friday, which might have concerned some at the time, but there was no injury reported that caused him to sit out. Perhaps they felt he was the only person on the team not good enough to practice? Perhaps they wanted to give their skaters an actual chance to get a puck past the goalie? Who knows. Expect Dubnyk between the pipes tonight.
Dubnyk maintenance, per Torch #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 15, 2016
As for the Stars, Tyler Seguin practiced and final decision on whether he plays or not will be made before tonight's game. Even if Seguin doesn't play we all know the Stars don't lack scoring depth as Radek Faksa (goal), Jason Spezza (goal,assist), Patrick Eaves (goal, assist), and Jamie Benn (goal, 2 assists) all had points in Thursday nights 4-0 win. Seguin would simply add another threat to their offensive depth and another headache to Wild players and fans.
Interesting/Upsetting Stats
HW Podcast 061: Game 1 Recap
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Carolyn Wilke of Today's Slapshot joins to break down Game 1, preview the rest of the series, and fix the Wild.
Benn had 3 points Thursday, bringing his total since Seguin's injury to 14 (8G-6A) in 11 games.
Seguin has a career 11.8% shooting percentage in the regular season. In the playoffs, that's dropped down to 4.7%.
The Wild had 2 shots on goal in the first period Thursday, beating their franchise record-low of 3.
Even when they stopped pressuring, Dallas dominated the Wild defensively. They ended the game with 32 (all-situations) chances to just 11 for the Wild. As for High-Danger chances? Dallas held a 12-2 advantage.
Who's Hot
Benn- 3 points Thursday, 5 points in last 5 games
Coyle- Despite no points in last 5 games, Coyle has focused more on a defensive role and had an even (0) +/- Thursday.
Who's not Hot?
Colton Sceviour- 2 points in last 5 games
Justin Fontaine- No points in last 5 games