Some Further Thoughts on a 1-1 Stars/Wild Series

Both teams flew to Minnesota today

A silent video board is a mesmerizing sight in the wee hours.

One of the irksome things about covering (or watching) Central Division playoff games is the late-night starts. I was wrapping up the postgame story last night this morning, and even as I published the thing, I hazily felt like I’d barely scratched the surface of everything that got packed into those 60 minutes in Game 2.

Great playoff games tend to defy a single story, which is why I always recommend reading coverage from a variety of writers¹ covering both teams, if you really want the fullest picture of the series. (Like NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, who got Duchene’s perspective on the Stars’ lackluster Game 1 performance after they evened the series last night).

I wanted to touch on a few other things still on my mind after last night/this morning’s 4-2 Stars win, but before that, let’s quickly get to a couple of updates from a brief presser with Glen Gulutzan before the team flew to Minnesota today.

Roope Hintz not traveling for Game 3, “very doubtful” for Game 4

The Stars are flying to Minnesota today, but Roope Hintz won’t be joining them. At least, not for Game 3.

“Game three, [he] won't be there,” Gulutzan said of Hintz. “Game four, I would say, is very doubtful. So, hopefully by the time we get back we're in a good spot, and he's in a good spot.”

In other words, Roope Hintz’s return continues to be less than imminent. But if there’s some good news, it’s that Nathan Bastian is starting to skate again. Gulutzan said today that while Bastian is limited in the hockey work he can do while still recovering from a hand injury, his return currently lines up with some time in a potential second-round series.

Everyone else, Gulutzan said, remains good to go for Game 3, which is scheduled for Wednesday night in St. Paul.

Faber and Hughes vs. Harley and Heiskanen

Dallas did a better job (though not a perfect one) of containing Hughes last night, and their reward was to have the Wild’s second D-man step up and come close to a hat trick. Faber attempted eleven shots last night, and six of them went on or into the net.

In total, Minnesota got two goals from Brock Faber last night, while Quinn Hughes continues to be a dominant force in the series (as he’s been all year for the Wild), with three points, including two 5v5 assists (and a setup to Boldy in the first period that ought to have been another, if not for Oettinger’s glove).

On Dallas’s side, they haven’t quite seen the same one-two punch from Heiskanen and Harley. Heiskanen has a pair of secondary assists on the power play, but nothing else. Harley has seven shot attempts, just one of which went on goal. He has yet to record a point in the series.

Furthermore, I was a bit surprised by the below two moments in the first period last night.