Wild Vs. Stars Game 2 AfterThoughts: Heart and Soul, Flesh and Bone

The series we all expected finally arrived one game later than anticipated

Song of the Game

I'll wait in the lobby for someone to show
And if they don't come, I will know where to go
The bodies are lined up outside in the hall
I don't want to decay in a mall

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For the second consecutive year, Colin Blackwell left an indelible mark on Game 2 of the first round.

It’s not often in today’s NHL that you see a clean, shoulder-to-shoulder hit that rattles an entire arena. But with 5:16 left in the first period, Blackwell—whom I am legally obligated to remind you is 5-foot-8—stepped up on the NHL leader in hits and delivered one of the biggest body checks you will ever see, dealing out a crushing shoulder-to-shoulder that knocked Trenin out of the game. It also announced a major tone-shift for what now looks likely to be a long series.

"It's fun. I enjoy playing physical,” Blackwell said. “Trust me, I get hit all the time. In a series like this and playoffs and stuff, you get the chance to be physical and you get the opportunity to do so. It just so happened to be a big one. There's a lot of other times where trying to slow some of their big guys getting licks on our D. I think any time you get a chance to lay a hit, it's just one of those things where the opportunity presents itself, you take advantage of it."

Trenin joins Mats Zuccarello on the Wild’s list of upper-body injuries, but Marcus Foligno did his best to add to the Stars’ own infirmary with a headlock on Thomas Harley that drove him into the boards, as well as a near-miss on Jason Robertson that saw Foligno go into his own bench. All that to say: this series is only just getting started.

But back to Blackwell for one more moment. Because players like him are often the subjects of underdog narratives and “look at him go” sorts of stories, but if you watched any of his last few games, you’ve been seeing a veteran player almost giddy with anticipation, knowing what it’s going to cost his body. Colin Blackwell is an NHL player, and that means he’s one of the best hockey players in the world, even if he doesn’t have the size that affords you a little extra time or a little more room to disperse the crushing force of big hits.

Colin Blackwell is inevitable because he decides to be, game after game, or even scratch after scratch. But tonight, he looked eager to pay whatever price was asked during each shift, and his hit changed the game for good—and probably the series, too.

“He’s got so much grit and desire,” Glen Gulutzan said. “He’s been a big part of our penalty kill and a big part of our team. In this last stretch, we’ve had a bunch of injuries, and he’s played his best hockey. He just rose up to the challenge at the end of the year, and it’s just carried on. He’s been a good jolt of energy every night for us in his minutes.”

That jolt extended to the penalty kill, where Blackwell was one of four forwards to handle the bulk of the biggest task: containing the Wild’s power play, which had scored five goals in the teams’ past two meetings, including two on Saturday. And this time, it was the Stars who won the special teams competition, as they got a second-period power play goal from Matt Duchene that wound up being the only such tally for either side in the first 59 minutes, as Minnesota went 0-for-4 on the power play.

It was a dramatic resurgence for a penalty kill that has been a hallmark of this Dallas team’s success, including last year’s first round series against Colorado. And despite the final 4-2 scoreline, the Stars needed every bit of stepping-up they got, from Jake Oettinger on out.

Yes, Oettinger. This game was shaping up to be a 4-1 Minnesota lead after 20 minutes with a similarly deflating result, if not for three incredible stops by the Stars’ franchise goaltender, who was on top of his game all night (outside of one iffy puck play behind his net in the third period). His two stops on Matt Boldy in the first period were superstar stuff, the type of playoff-caliber goaltending that top netminders are expected to provide at least once a night. Instead, Oettinger did so at least four solid times in this one, including another all-alone chance by Danila Yurov early in the game.

But when you saw Oettinger make those saves—and when you noticed the way he went about doing so, confident with his glove, stick, and blocker alike—you knew it was going to be one of those games, where Dallas simply needed to provide a modicum of offense in support of a star performance. And provide it they did, albeit in some unorthodox ways.

Wyatt Johnston scored two goals, but each had a bit of flukiness about it. Jesper Wallstedt, to his credit, recovered from a howler off the end boards to open the scoring and made Dallas work for their meal the rest of the way. (Two posts also didn’t hurt.) The empty-netter to seal things was a bit of cruel fate for Quinn Hughes, who was smarting from his own bounce off the end boards following the fourth Dallas goal.

But the middle two goals were every bit as important as the bookending ones. Matt Duchene’s power play goal off a beautiful rush entry and pass by Rantanen on the power play ensured that the man-advantage wouldn’t be a source of deflation for Dallas, as failed power plays so often can be. Coming when it did—in the final 20 seconds or so of the chance—Rantanen did what superstars do, and willed a scoring chance into being on a rush with Duchene, who played his second outstanding game in a row.

That goal came at the tail end of a Nick Foligno elbowing penalty, but that was far from the only Foligno-related discussion point in this one, as we’ll see.

First, though, it must be pointed out that it was Jason Robertson who wound up scoring the game-winning goal, and he did so by fighting for space in the middle of the ice while absorbing a cross check or two, then expertly knocking a Nils Lundkvist shot out of the air and through Wallstedt, capitalizing on a strong run of play for Dallas and giving them what would turn out to be a critical two-goal lead.

This game was the nitro-fueled, supercharged, [other cool car term] playoff game we were promised, and all it took to get it started was Colin Blackwell. All it took to get it finished was Jason Robertson, scoring his second goal of the series.

The other moment that will echo for a while—aside from two goals by Brock Faber, who was incredible tonight for Minnesota—was at the end of the second period when Marcus Foligno, perhaps in an attempt to avenge one of his injured teammates, responded to a Thomas Harley interference penalty by headlocking the Stars defenseman and driving his head into the curved corner of the glass at the end of the bench.

It was called a major at first blush, then downgraded to a double minor after a review. And Glen Gulutzan was okay with that result.

“It was interference on Harls for sure,” Gulutzan acknowledged, “ And then it was a headlock into the turnbuckle. But you know what? That’s probably the right call. They’ve got a lot of the veteran guys there with good character. It’s just a hard-fought
series. I don’t think too much of it. Sure, he had him in a headlock, and I don’t think, other than that, it was malicious. It’s playoff hockey. The biggest thing for me is how Harls has stepped up in the physicality department and how solid he’s been, too.
I’m just looking at things from my side.”

Foligno, by the way, saw things similarly.

“Yeah, I mean, he interferes with me,” Foligno said, “And there’s a stanchion in the way. Yeah, I think there’s an interference call on him, and at that point, do you think I’m gonna think about smashing a guy’s head in that quick of time? No, it’s unfortunate that there’s glass in the way.”

I doubt the Stars felt the play was entirely accidental, and neither did the officials, who gave Dallas a power play out of all the resulting mess. Harley appeared to be fine afterward. But that won’t be the last of Foligno we’ll hear in the series, because as always, he isn’t backing down from anyone—rhetoric included.

“I mean, they’re looking to play five-on-four,” Foligno said. “I mean, that’s their game. They can’t hang with us five-on-five. So just same thing as before, we got to just be smarter, and myself included. But it’s a heated game out there. You’re gonna have emotional swings, and learn from it. And we got a split series.”

It’s always a very entertaining thing in a competitive playoff series when you get that sort of narrative and folderol, post-facto chirps by both sides. Minnesota is clearly not happy about the Myers elbow on Zuccarello that kept him out of Game 2, and maybe longer. Dallas likely wasn’t happy that Miro Heiskanen was injured during the Hartman play in Game 79, and you can bet the Harley hit (after he and Boldy exchanged friendly greeting at the end of that same regular season finale) won’t be the last time the Wild challenge Dallas with their physical brand of hockey.

Either way, this series is only getting started. And if you’re Dallas, that was all you could ask for, going into this one. It appears that now, we’ll all be getting even more than we bargained for.

Highlights and the Lowdown

Whatever forecheck-related adjustments Gulutzan’s team may or may not have made after Game 1, they managed to force a Minnesota icing on the first shift of the game. Of course, the Stars would ice it themselves 30 seconds later, and Vladimir Tarasenko would get a wrap attempt that came with more space out front than Dallas would’ve liked to allow.

Overall, the Stars’ transition game looked better through the first run of lines, but Mikko Rantanen lost a puck in the neutral zone in transition, and his reach back caught Kaprizov up high, sending Minnesota to a familiar spot: the power play.

But Alain Nasreddine’s group had clearly done some homework over the weekend, and they were much quicker to prey upon Minnesota’s entries. Oettinger had just one save to make at the end of the set, and Dallas killed it off as easily as you could have hoped for.

Wyatt Johnston very nearly gave Dallas the lead right after that kill, tipping a point shot back the other way, but Jesper Wallstedt’s right toe was ready for it. He wouldn’t be the only goalie to make a big save in the first period, however, as Oettinger came up with an enormous stop on Yurov all alone at the netfront with his stick. It was the sort of save that tends to mean something, and it would do so immediately.

Because at the other end, a Wyatt Johnston shot from the point bounced sharply off the end boards, and caught Wallstedt off-guard. Almost miraculously, the puck banked off Wallstedt’s glove side and into the back of the net, and Dallas had a 1-0 lead.

The lead wouldn’t last long, however. After Benn and Bogosian were sent off to make it 4-on-4, Brock Faber would get past Jason Robertson and fire a puck in from close range with Heiskanen engaged at the netfront, tying things up at one goal apiece.

Minnesota nearly made it 2-1 a moment later, when Quinn Hughes beat Harley from the point and fed a puck across to Boldy, who had tons of net facing him. But Oettinger’s glove lashed out at the last minute for his second moment of outright robbery in the first period.

Esa Lindell hit the post down at the other end as 4-on-4 expired, and Johnston couldn’t quite find the rebound as the game stayed wide open. But it would only ramp up more as the period went along, because Colin Blackwell had himself a Colin Blackwell! moment, crushing Yakov Trenin with as big an open-ice hit as you’ll ever see, shoulder-on-shoulder. Trenin would leave the ice with some assistance.

Any residual fears about Jake Oettinger’s playoff capabilities on Monday were put to rest when he faced a Matt Boldy breakaway, only to come up with his third highlight-reel save of the period with a glove-hand stop.

Wallstedt had to make multiple dangerous deflection saves, but all told, Dallas was extremely fortunate to escape the first period with a 1-1 tie (if you count outstanding goaltending as “fortunate,” that is.)

The second period began with Dallas getting a power play after Nick Foligno rather unnecessarily got a forearm into Lundkvist’s face while finishing his check, resulting in an elbowing penalty.

Johnston toe-dragged around Jake Middleton off an entry place to generate a good scoring chance, but his shot caught Wallstedt’s arm at the same time Rantanen plowed into the crossbar, and no damage was done (except maybe to the goal frame). The rest of the power play was elapsing without much of anything happening, but with 20 seconds left in the power play, the top unit remained out, and Rantanen carried in on the right side with Duchene streaking to the net. He found him, and it was 2-1—with a big scrum ensuing right after, as Rantanen and Eriksson Ek got into it during the celebration.

Dallas would wind up shorthanded after the scrum, with Duchene and Eriksson Ek getting matching roughing minors, and Rantanen an additional slashing call for his initial shot on Eriksson Ek. But once again, Oettinger’s glove and the penalty kill got the job done, and Rantanen would find himself on the other end of penalty trouble when he got out of the box, getting tripped by Spurgeon to put Dallas back on the job themselves.

But this power play would not have a happy ending, as Heiskanen was called for tripping Michael McCarron after a fumbled 2-on-1 rush shorthanded. McCarron appeared to fall more than anything as he pivoted and spun, but a furious Heiskanen had to sit in the bin regardless. He didn’t have to worry though, because once again, the Stars’ penalty kill came up aces.

Minnesota had the better of play for a while after that, with Dallas rarely getting the puck into the other end of the ice. But things would tilt eventually, with the final six minutes of the second period being played in Minnesota’s end, albeit without many pucks finding their way onto Wallstedt’s net.

The physicality of the game did not decrease as it went on, and Marcus Foligno tried to put Jason Robertson into the fifth row behind the Minnesota bench. But Robertson saw him just in time to dodge the worst of it, and Foligno wound up in his own bench as a result.

Foligno would be Quite Involved at the end of the second period as well, when he responded to a Thomas Harley interference by wrapping his arm around Harley’s head and driving it into the rounded (thankfully) corner of the glass at the end of the bench.

The officials called a major penalty initially, then downgraded Foligno’s foul to a double minor after review, with Harley getting a minor himself for interference. Dallas would carry over 1:58 of man-advantage time to the third period as a result.

The top unit wouldn’t get much of anything going, but with two seconds left, a Hryckowian jam play result in a frantic clearance by Faber that went into the netting for a delay of game call that looked like a gift, only to have it rescinded after a Minnesota challenge succeeded in overturning the call because the puck had glanced off the stickblade of Bourque.

Dallas kept the pressure up though, testing Wallstedt’s short side more than once and leaning on Minnesota in general. But the Wild nearly victimized Dallas when Oettinger stopped a puck behind his net that Faber got to first, feeding it out to Nick Foligno, who couldn’t get the puck on net. Marcus Foligno nearly pulled off a higlight-reel move himself a moment later, banking the puck off the back of the net to himself and feeding out to McCarron, but it wouldn’t go.

Jason Robertson nearly scored off a nice Duchene setup shortly after that, but fluttered a puck in that Wallstedt made a nice save on. He wouldn’t get the next one.

Nils Lundkvist sent a puck in off a faceoff win for yet another flyby tip play, but Jason Robertson finally beat Wallstedt with a perfect tip to make it 3-1, giving Dallas some breathing room.

But once again, the Wild would respond, and it would be unfair for Oettinger, who made a pair of sparkling saves just beforehand. But a puck wasn’t won up high, and then a pass to the low circle deflected off Hryckowian and right to Faber, who fired it back against the grain before anyone knew it, making it 3-2 with ten minutes to go.

And what a ten minutes it was, featuring everything from Quinn Hughes doing Quinn Hughes Things to Rantanen juggling a puck three times in the air as he tried to win a 1-on-1 rush in the Minnesota zone. Dallas was defending Minnesota’s active defensemen with calculated turnover attempts at their blue line, and they generated a couple of near-breakaways as a result. Robertson got another one-time attempt in the low slot, but the play happened just a tad too quickly to be clean, and he fanned on most of the shot.

With 3:44 to go, disaster struck, as two players came off the bench for one, and Dallas was assessed a Too Many Men on the Ice penalty. It was, by far, the biggest penalty kill of the game, but Alain Nasreddine would not be denied, and the Stars made it through, thanks to some big blocks and a bigger Oettinger save on a Kaprizov between-the-legs attempt from the side of the net.

And then, with 1:21 to go, Minnesota returned the favor with a needless Too Many Men on the Ice penalty of their own to put Dallas on the job. But drama found the game even then, as Minnesota was able to gain possession and pull Wallstedt for a 5-on-5 rush, but it didn’t last long. Because a Wyatt Johnston backhand clearance was scooped out of the zone, and it rolled down toward the empty net.

Quinn Hughes went back to chase. He then pulled up momentarily, as the puck looked to be curving wide of the goal for an icing, but then Hughes saw what 18,000 others did: the puck, horribly, cruelly, impossibly, curling back inside the post of the gaping net. Hughes had only paused momentarily, but that tiniest bit of hesitation would cost him dearly. The puck rolled in, and then Hughes lost his balance and slid hard into the end boards as the goal horn sounded.

It was not easy. But then again, what part of this series was ever going to be easy? The Stars tied up the series 1-1, and they now head to Minnesota hoping for, at minimum, a similar split before returning home.

Lineups

Dallas mixed things up with this lineup:

Hryckowian-Johnston-Rantanen
Robertson-Duchene-Bourque
Steel-Hyry-Benn
Bäck-Faksa-Blackwell

Lindell-Heiskanen
Harley-Lundkvist
Bichsel-Myers

Oettinger in goal

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Minnesota rolled this after Mats Zuccarello was a late scratch:

Kaprizov-Hartman-Tarasenko
Johansson-Eriksson Ek-Boldy
N. Foligno-Yurov-Brink
M. Foligno-McCarron-Trenin

Hughes-Faber
Brodin-Spurgeon
Middleton-Bogosian

Wallstedt

After-AfterThoughts

• I’m told Dave Jackson explained on the ESPN broadcast that you can’t assess a double minor for a single foul there (unlike you can with high-sticking), so presumably there were two distinct infractions called on Foligno in that sequence.

• With that said, that Foligno play on Harley is a major penalty in almost any other hockey game, right?

• John Hynes was asked about the injuries to Yakov Trenin and Mats Zuccarello, and all he would say was “upper-body.” Hynes also confirmed the earlier report from Mike Russo that Zuccarello’s injury was a result of the elbow he took from Tyler Myers in Game 1.

  • Zuccarello has suffered serious head injuries before in his career, so one would expect the team to be exceedingly careful with his recovery. It’s a tough blow for a Wild team, and particularly on the power play, and thrives on the skilled plays and space-creation players like Zuccarello can provide.

• Glen Gulutzan on Colin Blackwell:

  • “I think he’s getting adjusted about five times tonight after the game by the chiropractor. But he’s made of rock, that guy.”

• Gulutzan on Arttu Hyry:

  • “We didn’t put him in there on a whim. We got to watch him for 20 games, and this is a good hockey player. It’s his first [playoff] game, and I thought he was one of our better players poise-wise, stick-wise, defense-wise, offensively. We knew that kind of in training camp and just with the roster, but coming in, in this scenario, he looked very good.”

• Once again, the Matt Duchene line was dominant, out-attempting its opposition 14-4 in its nine minutes at 5v5. Natural Stat Trick had scoring chances 6-1, and Expected Goals share at 98%(!), too.

• Arttu Hyry played like a player who had been waiting for this game his entire life. And in a sense, he was. As his first playoff game, Hyry made this one count, driving play constantly and battling (physically and otherwise) relentlessly. He wasn’t strong on faceoffs today, going just 4-for-12, but what he did between the faceoffs was strong to very strong. I genuinely don’t know how you take him out of the lineup after this performance. He was every bit the 3C Dallas was hoping to get, and it’s a big credit to Hyry that he was able to step in and play that role so naturally.