The Minnesota Wild lost to the Dallas Stars in Game 4 on Sunday, relinquishing the home-ice advantage they had previously earned with a Game 1 overtime win in Dallas. Despite the loss, the Wild have to feel good about the state of their game. They outshot the Stars 34-24 and if not for an exquisite performance from Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger surely would have skated off the ice with a win.
We take a quick break from Minnesota sports betting updates to break down Game 4 between the Wild and the Stars.
Game 5 takes place Tuesday in Dallas at 7 p.m. on TBS.
Stars Take Advantage of Wild Penalties
Penalties were once again an issue for the Wild, though not as much as they usually are. Minnesota only had to turn to the penalty-killing unit three times, but gave up goals to Tyler Seguin on two of those, making that the difference in the game. Wild players were furious on a couple of occasions with the officiating.
Both Marcus Foligno penalties were extremely debatable and were a big part of the post-game chatter from the Wild. On their end, the Wild went 1-4 on the power play with Freddy Gaudreau scoring on a six-on-four late with the goalie pulled.
While the calls were frustrating, Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was even more of a roadblock in this game. He was tested early and often, stopping a glorious Mats Zuccarello chance in the opening minute and shutting down breakaways from Marcus Foligno and superstar Kirill Kaprizov in the second period. The Minnesota native was the key for Dallas in the win, much to the dismay of Wild fans.
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Sportsbook Odds Shift Back In Stars Favor
Kaprizov went pointless once again, keeping the Wild’s game-breaker at one point over four games after he put up 75 in 67 regular season games. At some point, the Russian sniper is going to have to begin providing the offense he is relied upon for or Minnesota will be going home. Gaudreau and John Klingberg found the scoresheet for the Wild late but it wasn’t enough to overcome the lead the Stars had built.
On the other side, Roope Hintz continued to torment Minnesota with a three-assist performance to match his three-goal outburst in Game 2. Taking the injured Joe Pavelski’s spot, Tyler Seguin scored twice on the power play, providing the scoring Pavelski has been known for the past couple of seasons.
Regardless of how deserved the penalties for Minnesota were, the fact was it only found itself shorthanded three times and were only able to kill one. In a series that has seen games decided by special teams, the Wild will need to clean up the penalty kill.
With the series shifting back to Dallas, the odds have also shifted. The Wild open as +125 road underdogs and the low-scoring nature of the series and form of the goalies has also been noted with a low total of 5.5 favored to go under with -125 odds.
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A little more finishing skill from the Wild snipers like Kaprizov and Matt Boldy seems to be all that’s needed to get Minnesota back on track and in the driver's seat for when they head back to Minnesota for the inevitable Game 6.
