Tag: Dallas Stars

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Minnesota Wild get terrible injury news ahead of Game 6

The New York Post

The Minnesota Wild officially have their backs against the wall coming into tonight’s Game 6 of their Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the rival Dallas Stars. Despite having taken a 1-0 series lead in Game 1 thanks to overtime hero Ryan Hartman, the Stars have proceeded to win three of the next four, putting themselves within one victory of punching their ticket to Round 2. 

And ahead of tonight’s Game 6, some less than spectacular injury news has been made public. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, forward Mats Zuccarello hasn’t skated in the last two days and may not be able to go tonight.

Zuccarello has scored two goals with three assists in the five postseason games that he’s appeared in. Needless to say, not having him in the lineup with their season on the line would be a completely unideal situation for the Wild, who are facing the prospect of yet another first round exit. 

Tonight’s game will begin from Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul starting at 9:30 PM EST. 

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Paul Bissonnette recklessly suggests hurting Jake Oettinger

Barrett Media

Former NHL player turned analyst Paul Bissonnette drew the ire of hockey fans everywhere for his over the top cheering of the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this week, with many calling for him to be removed from the air for language that also included profanity and a vulgar phrase. 

And now, he’s right back at it again with a truly stunning suggestion for the Minnesota Wild, who find themselves trailing in their Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the Dallas Stars. As you may know, the Wild have been stymied by goaltender Jake Oettinger, who is quickly developing a reputation for being a clutch performer in the playoffs. So, what does Bissonnette think the Wild should do? 

In his words, “take a run” at him. 

Even if his comments were mostly in jest, it really is never a classy thing to suggest, even half seriously, of injuring an opponent in order to gain the upper hand. 

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Marcus Foligno ejected after dirty knee-on-knee hit

Twitter

Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno has been assessed a major penalty after he caught Dallas Stars forward Radek Faksa with a dirty knee-on-knee hit. 

Faksa had to be helped from the ice, while Foligno would soon be ejected from action. 

Take a look for yourself at the play:

The good news for Stars fans is that Faksa was able to avoid what could have been a significant knee injury and has returned to the game: 

The Stars are looking to take a 3-2 series lead over the Wild before the two teams return to Minnesota for what could be a deciding Game 6. 

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Wild victims of a brutal call by NHL officials in Game 4.

The Minnesota Wild were the victims of a pretty inexcusable call on the part of the National Hockey League’s officials on Sunday night and, if the veins that were practically bursting from the head of Wild head coach Dean Evason were any indication, it seems very unlikely that they are going to be happy with the outcome of Game 4.

The Wild were battling the Dallas Stars in a hotly contested game, one that was separated by only a single goal in the third period, when Wild forward Marcus Foligno was shaken up on a play after an awkward attempt at a hit on Stars forward Mason Marchment. Marchment managed to avoid the majority of the contact, but in doing so his stick came across the face of Foligno and would in fact result in the Wild forward being busted open on the play.

Although it initially appeared as though the Wild might get a power play out of the whole thing, when Foligno got back up to his feet he was shocked to learn that he was in fact the one headed to the penalty box. The officials on the ice had called Foligno for “tripping” on the play, resulting in outrage from both Foligno as well as the rest of the Minnesota Wild.

Making matters even worse, the Stars would score on the ensuing power play with Stars forward Tyler Seguin notching the power play goal. It was at this moment that Evason appeared to be boiling on the bench, with his face muscles seemingly contorting as he did his best to contain his anger at the NHL’s officials.

Adding insult to injury, the Wild managed to come within a goal by scoring with only a minute left on the game clock. That means that this call from the NHL officials, and the ensuing power play goal, proved to be a deciding factor in tonight’s game.

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Marcus Foligno calls out the NHL’s “bullshit” officiating in Game 4.

Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports

Game 4 between the Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Stars will go down as a controversial one, with many on the Minnesota Wild side of the equation leaving the game feeling like they got a raw deal from the National Hockey League’s officials. None more so than veteran Wild forward Marcus Foligno.

Following the conclusion of Game 4, Foligno made no effort to hide his disdain, or avoid any potential fines, when he slammed the officiating in Sunday’s game. Specifically, Foligno objected to a pair of penalty calls that had been made against him during the course of the game.

The first, an interference call that Foligno argues should have been fair game, and a highly controversial “tripping” call that would be levied against Foligno at a pivotal moment late in the game’s third period.

”It’s a joke. It doesn’t make any sense,” said Foligno on Sunday. “I go to hit a guy who touches the puck. It’s not interference. I go, I get high-sticked in the face. It’s not a tripping call when you hit a guy clean on. It’s bullshit.”

Foligno also indicated that he had received no explanation for why the call was made, and used the word “arrogant” to describe what he did encounter from the NHL officials on the ice Sunday night.

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Minnesota Wild rip ex-teammate Ryan Suter

Sports Illustrated

Former Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter was lured just over 10 years ago to the Minnesota Wild alongside his good friend Zach Parise; they both inked identical 13 year, $98 million contracts in what was thought to be the beginning of a golden era of Wild hockey.

Unfortunately, the team never advanced past the second round with their dynamic duo, and they were both bought out of the remainder of their deals by general manager Bill Guerin in the summer of 2021. Suter subsequently signed with the rival Dallas Stars, while Parise headed east for the New York Islanders. 

Suter is now facing his former Wild teammates in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and he’s already gotten under their skin in a major way. Suter got away with not one but two separate brutal crosschecks to the back of Russian sniper Kirill Kaprizov over the course of what would eventually be a 3-2 Wild double overtime victory. 

Needless to say, this didn’t sit well with the Wild players. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, Suter was catching some serious heat from his ex-teammates in the Minnesota dressing room following the game: 

“Gaudreau, playing hurt, looked bothered at times. Middleton, who was outstanding, hobbled to the bench on one occasion. Same with Johansson and Kaprizov, who ate a couple vicious cross-checks from Ryan Suter, who is not a popular fixture at all inside his old locker room. Wild players were ripping the longtime former Wild defenseman to shreds in the celebratory postgame locker room.”

As you may remember, Suter was referred to as “uncoachable” by a former Wild head coach, while his close relationship with Wild owner Craig Leipold was a reported source of tension within the organization. 

Expect some fireworks tonight when the two teams get together for Game 2 from American Airlines Center! 

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Wild reveal starting goaltender and lineups for Game 1

Bally Sports North

The quest for the Stanley Cup officially begins tonight for the Minnesota Wild, who will be looking to advance past the first round of the postseason for the first time since 2015 when they took down the St. Louis Blues. 

They’ll be taking on a familiar rival in the Dallas Stars, who happen to feature former Wild mainstay Ryan Suter on the blue line. The series will be getting underway deep in the heart of Texas tonight at American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas. 

And not surprisingly, it will be goaltender Filip Gustavsson who will be getting his first taste of playoff hockey. He was the first goaltender off the ice in this morning’s practice, the sure sign that he’ll be getting the nod in net. Meanwhile, it will be veteran Marc-Andre Fleury serving as backup.

It sounds as though they’ll be taking it game by game for who ultimately gets the start between the pipes, however. 

“I said it was an easy decision last year, because I thought — we thought — both goaltenders can play,” head coach Dean Evason said. “It’s the same situation. Both goaltenders have been absolutely fantastic for us this year. Fantastic. So the decision that we’re going to make is a difficult decision, but it’s an easy decision because they’re both extremely great goaltenders that the team has confidence in.

“We’ve used them both all season. There is no reason why we will not continue to do that. We’ll monitor game by game, as we always have.”

Gustavsson enjoyed a strong season in his first full year with the Wild since being traded for Cam Talbot this offseason, racking up a 22-9-7 record with a 2.10 goals against average, .931 save percentage and three shutouts.

Meanwhile, here are tonight’s projected line combinations: 

Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello 

Johansson-Gaudreau-Boldy

Foligno-Steel-Nyquist

Duhaime-Dewar-Reaves

Middleton-Spurgeon

Brodin-Dumba

Merrill-Faber

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Ryan Hartman shocks Stars with 2OT winner

Twitter

The Minnesota Wild have upset the Dallas Stars in the opening game of their first round Stanley Cup Playoffs series, and it’s thanks to a player who appeared as though he would have to leave the game due to injury.

Forward Ryan Hartman, who was seen visibly laboring on the bench during overtime with television commentators expressing doubt as to whether or not he could even return to action, proved them all wrong by burying the game winning goal at 16:20 of double overtime: 

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Western Conference playoff matchups officially set

GamblingSites.org

First, the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference postseason matchups were set in stone. And thanks to the victory tonight by the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, we now know the Western Conference postseason matchups. 

Colorado’s victory officially crowned them as the winners of the Central Division, and they’ll be taking on the second year Seattle Kraken in what will be their first ever playoff appearance. Colorado will be facing a few familiar faces, as former Avalanche players Philipp Grubauer and Andre Burakovsky, the latter of whom was part of last year’s Cup winning team, now play for Seattle. 

For the second consecrative season, it will be the Edmonton Oilers facing the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. The Oilers became the first NHL team since 1996 to feature three different players who eclipsed the 100-point mark in Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, while this will be the first postseason for Los Angeles without goaltender Jonathan Quick between the pipes since 2002. 

Speaking of Quick, he and his new Vegas Golden Knights teammates are taking on the Winnipeg Jets, who grabbed the last remaining playoff spot in the Western Conference. This will be their first playoff matchup since the 2018 Western Conference Finals that saw Vegas advance in their inaugural season to within three wins of the Stanley Cup. It also marks the postseason debut of former 2015 No. 2 overall pick Jack Eichel. 

And for the first time since 2016, it will be the Dallas Stars taking on the Minnesota Wild. The Stars took down the Wild in their opening round postseason series that year, the first time that the two had faced one another beyond the regular season. It was especially ironic, given that the original Minnesota North Stars left the State of Hockey to become the Dallas Stars in 1993, while Minnesota regained an NHL expansion franchise in the Wild in 2000. 

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Derek Lalonde states the obvious after embarrassing loss

The Detroit Free Press

While it was billed as “Fan Appreciation Night” at Little Caesars Arena for last night’s Detroit Red Wings home finale, they didn’t exactly reciprocate the favor with their play on the ice. 

Goaltender Ville Husso was pulled midway through the first period after allowing three goals on six shots from the visiting Dallas Stars, and by the time that it was all said and done, six pucks found their way past the duo of Husso and Magnus Hellberg en route to a 6-1 setback. For Husso, it was another subpar performance between the pipes. 

“It’s hard to build momentum when we just can’t keep it out of our net,” head coach Derek Lalonde said. “And that’s on everyone, not just the goalies. We just had some timely bad breakdowns.”

Detroit generated very little offensive pressure against goaltender Jake Oettinger, who was given the rest of the night off at the start of the third period by head coach Pete DeBoer. Meanwhile, Husso found himself surrendering goals in bunches barely a week after posting a shutout against the Montreal Canadiens in his return to the lineup from a lower body injury that had kept him out of action for the previous seven games. 

“We were advised to get him back in there and see how he handled that situation he was dealing with in his lower body,” Lalonde said. “Unfortunately, it’s been a really tough stretch for him. It’s going to be hard, because these last three games are just going to crush his overall numbers. There was some hockey this year where he was excellent, won us a lot of hockey games.”

“We want him to be a potential No. 1 for us and he’s had flashes of showing us he can do that,” Lalonde said. “Maybe a lesson for him in how he approaches his offseason and hopefully being ready when camp starts next year.”

Husso has appeared in a career high 55 games this season, his first in Detroit after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues and subsequently signed to a three year contract.