Now everyone gets a chance to see if the Wild have truly learned from their past mistakes.
Given a chance to go up 3-1 in a series for the first time in franchise history, the Wild suffered a frustrating 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 4 on Sunday night at Xcel Energy Center. That means the Wild will head back to Dallas with the series tied at 2-2.
The situation at hand is similar to last season when the Wild were up 2-1 in the series with the St. Louis Blues. They failed to get the job done in Game 4, then lost Game 5 and Game 6 to bow out of the playoffs. What gives coach Dean Evason the confidence history won’t repeat itself?
“We stuck to our game plan,” Evason said. “We got to our game in a hurry. We got chances. We played the right way. We didn’t get rewarded tonight.”
In that same breath, Evason told reporters that they could draw their own conclusions as to why exactly the Wild didn’t get rewarded, a clear shot at the officiating that left something to be desired across 60 minutes.
“How playoff hockey should be played, it should be physical, it should be intense, it should be hitting hard,” Evason said. “That’s what playoff hockey is and we were doing that.”
The questionable calls that stood out featured Marcus Foligno in a starring role. He got whistled for interference and tripping in the game and emphatically disagreed. It’s hard to argue when watching the replays.
“It’s a joke,” Foligno said. “It doesn’t make any sense. I go to hit a guy. He touches the puck. It’s not interference. I get high sticked in the face. It’s not tripping when I hit a guy clean on. It’s (expletive).”
Asked if he got any explanation from the officials, Foligno continued his rant, replying, “No. Arrogant.”
As frustrated as the Wild were about the officiating, they were equally frustrated about their penalty kill. It’s been a problem for most of the series, and it was porous once again on this particular night, allowing the Stars to go 2 for 3 on the power play. That proved to be the difference.
The biggest thing the Wild can latch onto is that they played a good game for 60 minutes other than that. They started the game with a ton of intensity, winning nearly every puck battle, and generating a number of scoring chances in front of Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger.
They simply couldn’t solve him.
That trend continued in the second period as Oettinger stood on his head regardless of the situation. He twice denied Foligno on a breakaway, then did the same to Kirill Kaprizov in close.
“He played really good tonight,” Foligno said. “That’s what it all came down to. We didn’t score. We played a hell of a game.”
That left the door open, and the game turned for the Wild when Foligno got called for interference. The call didn’t make much sense considering the puck was near Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa when Foligno crushed him with a big hit along the boards.
Nonetheless, the Wild ended up on the penalty kill, and Stars winger Tyler Seguin promptly made it 1-0 with a redirection in front.
As frustrated as the Wild were about the questionable call on Foligno, they benefited from a questionable call early in the third period when Stars winger Evgenii Dadonov also got called for interference.
Not only did the Wild struggle on the following power play, they allowed Dadonov to race out of the penalty box and help the Stars stretch their the lead to 2-0.
“We’ve got to capitalize better on our PP,” John Klingberg said. “We can’t have them score right after our PP as well. It’s a few tough bounces. We had our chances to score goals. They played a really good game over there. But yeah it was a special teams battle really today.”
Though it looked like the Wild were pretty much left for dead at that point, Klingberg saved a goal in the defensive zone, then raced into the offensive zone and cut the deficit to 2-1 with a rising shot.
With the Wild pushing to tie the game, Foligno got called for tripping Stars winger Mason Marchment despite the fact that he hit him with his body first. Naturally, the Wild’s struggles on the penalty kill reared their ugly head once again, and Seguin scored for the Stars on the power play to make it 3-1.
“We always want to tighten it up,” Evason said. “Do we have to get better on the penalty kill? Hell yeah. We will.”
As the game wound to a close, Freddy Gaudreau cut the deficit to 3-2, giving the Wild a hope and a prayer with 1 minute, 20 seconds left. They never found the tying goal, and frustrated, left the ice with nothing to show for 60 minutes of solid play.
How do the Wild move on to Game 5 without letting the frustration fester?
“Just understand that we’re a better hockey team when we play like that,” Foligno said. “There’s no negativity out of this game besides just burying our chances. It’s onto Game 5. We’ve won in their rink before.”
