Dallas Stars 3
Minnesota Wild 2
The Dallas Stars won the first road game in the Western Conference Quarterfinal series Wednesday night beating the Wild 3-2 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
1. Late second period goals spark Stars
The final 6-and-a-half minutes of the second period was really the key stretch in the Stars victory. Patrick Eaves scored on a power play goal at the 13:24 mark of the second period to draw Dallas back to even.
Jason Spezza gives the @DallasStars the lead just before the end of the 2nd period. Don't Miss a Moment. #StanleyCup https://t.co/wmzK82G28K
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 21, 2016
Then with just over a minute remaining in the second Jason Spezza’s second goal of the series gave Dallas the lead for good.
2. Niemi neutralizes the Wild
For the majority of the series the Wild’s offense has been struck in neutral, and for other than a couple of big plays in the second period Antti Niemi made sure it didn’t get going.
Spezza scores winner, Niemi makes 28 saves as Stars beat Wild 3-2. DAL leads series 3-1. https://t.co/ipxTGMWO9U pic.twitter.com/pQHyU0fbiD
— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) April 21, 2016
Niemi, who started in net for the first time in the series, made 28 saves to help key the Stars victory.
3. Coyle breaks his streak
It had been a long time since Charlie Coyle had scored a goal. Before his goal to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the second period, it had been 21 games since he had scored a goal.
Finally though an incredible effort on this breakaway allowed him to break through.
The solo effort by Coyle is top notch. The celebration? What a #HockeyHug. #DALvsMIN #StanleyCuphttps://t.co/4xpnzGzDjx
— NHL (@NHL) April 21, 2016
Coyle's first goal since March 1, snapping a 21-game drought
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 21, 2016
Tweet of the Night:
Still fighting!
Pominville: It's not the way we would've wrote it up…We've got ourselves out of tough situations all year and we have to get it done.
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 21, 2016
Up Next:
The series shifts back to Dallas for Game 5 on Friday night. Face off is again scheduled for 8:30.
