Pat Pickens
The Dallas Stars were staring down the barrel of a 2-1 series hole until their star-studded special teams took over.
Despite being outshot (61-60) and outscored (6-3) at 5-on-5, the Stars’ power play is white hot in this series and it scored three times in their 4-3, double-OT win over the Minnesota Wild in Game 3 on Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn.
Wyatt Johnston scored the game-winner on the power play at 12:10 of the second extra session. The Stars have won two straight and now lead 2-1 in the best-of-7 series.
Game 4 will be Saturday at 4:30 p.m. CT in St. Paul.
The Stars Power Play is On Fire
The Dallas PP has picked up right where it left off in the regular season.
The Stars ranked second in the NHL during the regular season in power-play efficiency (28.6%), trailing only the historically great Edmonton Oilers (30.6). But where the Oilers’ man-advantage has floundered through two games, the Stars’ is flourishing.
Dallas is 6 for 17 (35.3%) on the power play in its series and has scored multiple man-up goals in each of its past two wins. Johnston and teammate Matt Duchene each have a pair of power-play goals in the series and superstar wing Jason Robertson also scored on the power play in Game 1.
“It’s important to capitalize when you get those chances,” Johnston said. “It felt good to get that one [in double OT]. I was just trying to pitch in and do what I can to help.”
Duchene’s man-up goal gave Dallas the lead for good in its 4-2 win over Minnesota in Game 2, but his power-play marker in Game 3 set the stage for Johnston’s heroics.
The Stars trailed 3-2 in the waning seconds of a third-period PP, after Bobby Brink tripped Radek Faksa at 8:27. Dallas had failed on three straight second-period power plays that gave the Wild momentum enough to take the lead late in the second period.
“It’s the time of the year where you’ve got to stick with it. You can’t get frustrated,” Stars coach Glen Gulatzan said. “We’re playing against an elite team, and elite [penalty] killers. The swings are going to go that way. It’s not going to be a smooth ride.”
It was Dallas’ only PP in the third period or first overtime — the Wild, meanwhile, had five man-advantages in that span. But Duchene deposited a sharp-angle shot past Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt, off a brilliant cross-slot pass from Mikko Rantanen that tied the game.
“Pretty important,” Duchene of the power-play contributions. “We were just staying with it. This team, I’ve talked about how even-keeled we are, and it feels even more even-keeled than in prior years, just how patient and in the moment we are.”
The Stars Penalty Kill Has Been Great Too
Special teams can be a massive X-factor in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
A strong or wonky power play can flip the momentum of a game or series, especially if an outcome begins snowballing.
So even though the Stars have given Minnesota 15 man-advantages in the series, and were shorthanded seven times in Game 3, they’ve answered the bell by shutting down 10 of the Wild’s past 11 power plays after they went 2 for 4 in Game 1.
“Our specialty teams have been outstanding,” Gulatzan said.
Plus, the Stars PK faced three potentially game-altering situations after Duchene tied the game. Rantanen first went to the penalty box for tripping at 12:30 of the third period, then forwards Sam Steel and Jamie Benn each was cited in overtime, but Dallas did not even allow a shot against Jake Oettinger on the OT power plays.
“I had my head down, looking out of one eye and just being like ‘good lord, let us get through this,'” Duchene said. “They were unbelievable. We knew we needed to step up once we got those two [power plays] in [double] OT.”
The Wild, of course, paid a huge price to acquire defenseman Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks earlier this season for him to join the likes of Kirill Kaprizov (19 PPGs), Matt Boldy (30 power-play points) and Joel Eriksson-Ek (16 PPPs). Minnesota finished third in the league in power play (25.2%) but has been listless in its past two losses.
“They got some great players. That’s a talented power play,” Gulatzan said. “I thought our guys did a really good job.”
