No one will ever know how Game 4 between the Wild and Stars would’ve turned out if Marcus Foligno wasn’t called for two questionable penalties that led to two Dallas power-play goals and a 3-2 victory to even the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
Maybe Jake Oettinger would’ve stood on his head and still led the Stars to a victory. Either way, Wild head coach Dean Evason says Minnesota will continue to play aggressively and finish checks even if it means more “suspect” penalties.
“There’s no lobbying that goes on, but obviously we’re talking about our concerns of last game,” Evason said Tuesday, just hours before Game 5 in Dallas. “There’s no sense whining about penalties, there’s nothing we can do about them now. Are we going to change the way that we play? Are we going to finish all of our checks? Of course we are and if you get a suspect call you gotta kill the thing off.”
The penalty kill has killed the Wild in the series. In Minnesota’s double-overtime victory in Game 1, they allowed two power-play goals and in Game 2 they gave up three more in a loss. Minnesota held Dallas to 0-for-2 with the man advantage in Game 3 and then allowed two more in Game 4.
That’s seven power-play goals for the Stars through four games, though both goals in Game 4 came after questionable calls on Foligno – one for interference and another for tripping, both of which appeared to be him finishing checks.
“I’m sure they feel the same thing. There’s some calls that have gone in our favor,” Evason admitted.
As exciting as the games have been in the series, one of the best storylines has been the back-and-forth between Evason and Stars head coach Pete DeBoer, who after Game 2 noted that Minnesota was the sixth-most penalized team in the league and “we’re ready for that.” Evason responded by suggesting Dallas players are taking dives to draw penalties, adding that the Wild “don’t dive.”
DeBoer’s response: “That’s deflecting,” he said of Evason, noting that he’d do the same and it’s “good coaching.”
The players Foligno checked hard to draw penalties in Game 4 didn’t dive, they got trucked. And all signs point to Foligno and the Wild continuing to impose play with physical intensity and big hits in Game 5 Tuesday night.
