Stars weather late Wild charge, advance to 2nd round for 1st time since 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Jason Spezza scored his fourth goal of the series and added three assists, and goalie Kari Lehtonen and the Dallas Stars needed every last one of them to hold off the Minnesota Wild 5-4 on Sunday to wrap up the first-round series in six games.
Jared Spuregon scored two of Minnesota's four third-period goals, both on the power play, and the Wild came within a fraction of an inch of tying the game with 34 seconds remaining when Nino Niederreiter whacked at a loose puck in the crease.
Freeze-frame replays showed it in the net, but not quite fully across the goal line as it connected with Lehtonen's right pad, an oh-so-close call that was upheld by review. Jason Demers was there trying to pounce on the puck, too.
John Klingberg, Patrick Sharp, Jamie Benn and Alex Goligoski also scored for the Stars. They moved on to face the winner of the Chicago-St. Louis series, which is tied at 3. The Blues host the Blackhawks in their decisive Game 7 on Monday night.
The Wild's intensely up-and-down season ended with a fury, metaphorically squeezing months of drama into one final period after waking up from a figurative afternoon nap during the first 40 minutes of the game. Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin scored 16 seconds apart, pulling the Wild to 4-2 with 15-plus minutes to play.
In one of many odes to the late artist Prince, the song ''Let's Go Crazy'' played on the arena system after each goal by the Wild, who had 16 shots on target in the third period. Lehtonen finished with 25 saves and a 3-1 record in the series, but he and the rest of the Stars' defense was all out of sorts down the stretch.
Dallas got a big break, though, when Goligoski's shot bounced around the goal mouth. Devan Dubnyk didn't appear to see it, and after Charlie Coyle lunged to try to keep it away from the line, the puck glanced off Dubnyk and went in for a 5-3 lead with 9:32 remaining.
Pominville slammed in a rebound with 4:47 left, though, setting up the frantic final flurry.
Playing at home for the first time since the death of Prince, the Wild took the ice for warmups to the sound of ''1999,'' the dance party hit by Minnesota's musical prodigy. The song is a crowd favorite, but that's also the year the Stars won the franchise's only Stanley Cup, aided by that disputed goal at Buffalo.
Most of the current Stars weren't even teenagers then, let alone on the team. None of them were with Dallas in 2008, either, the last time the Stars advanced in the playoffs, with a six-game victory over San Jose in the first round.
After the Wild were denied on an early power play, they suddenly found themselves defending a 5-on-3 situation against that dangerous Dallas attack. Coyle was called for elbowing Demers, who appeared to exaggerate the blow to his nose with a slight delay in reaction, to the booing dismay of the fans. Marco Scandella's high stick caught Sharp in the face, and the two-man advantage was set in motion. Klingberg knocked in a one-timer for the early lead to spark a three-goal first period.
At the end of a sleepy second period, with the Wild and their fans seeming more than ready for summer vacation, Benn put the Stars in front 4-0 on his top-shelf shot with 24 seconds remaining until the break.
But the Wild weren't ready to pack it in, as they proved during the torrid 20 minutes that followed.
NOTES: The paid attendance was announced at 19,310, the largest crowd at Xcel Energy Center this season. ... Stars LW Travis Moen saw his first action of the series, replacing Valeri Nichushkin on the fourth line. ... Wild D Nate Prosser was on the ice for the first three Stars goals. ... Benn had two assists and finished with 10 points in the series. ... Dubnyk stopped 19 shots.