ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Marcus Foligno tied it for Minnesota on a second-effort tip-in with 5:20 left in the third period and the Wild and the Dallas Stars went to overtime tied at 2 on Saturday in Game 4 of the first-round NHL playoff series.
Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen scored on the only two regulation power plays for the Stars, who continued their special teams mastery of the Wild and are 8 for 19 in the series they lead 2-1.
Brock Faber had
the first goal for the Wild, who were again without first-line right wing Mats Zuccarello due to an upper body injury that occurred in Game 1 and felt his absence on their flagging power play.
The Wild were 0 for 4 in regulation, with just one goal in their last 15 opportunities. Two of those failures came in overtime of their loss in Game 3.
Jake Oettinger, who has allowed only six goals in three games after giving up six in the opener, faced a furious Wild rally down the stretch and had 29 saves in regulation in another steely performance in his home state.
Seconds after a near-miss by Wyatt Johnston during a scrum around the Wild goal, Nico Sturm's shot took a fluky bounce off the end boards toward the goal mouth as Foligno jarred it loose from Oettinger and poked it in as he tumbled over the top of the goalie's shoulder.
The power-play disparity has been the difference, much like in the first round in 2023 when Dallas downed Minnesota in six games.
Ryan Hartman, long one of the Wild's most-penalized players, was whistled for goaltender interference just 4:31 into the game. Robertson responded by snapping in a rebound after Matt Duchene — who has seven points in four games — muscled a shot from just outside the crease that ricocheted off Wallstedt.
The Stars, who are playing without top center Roope Hintz, have managed to get shots through the screens and attack the net far more effectively.
After the Wild had two empty power plays in the first period with just three seconds between them, the home crowd that has seen this script many times before booed the last group off the ice. Matt Boldy even knocked one in the corner of the net that would've ended the skid, but the officials waved it off because Joel Eriksson Ek had just pushed Heiskanen into Oettinger.
Even strength is where the Wild must live if they're going to mount a comeback. They're up 8-4 in 5-on-5 goals, including Faber's wrister that tied it later in the first period by glancing off Heiskanen's glove.
Wild rookie Jesper Wallstedt, who made 34 saves in regulation, has been a bulwark all series. The Wall of St. Paul thwarted plenty more prime chances, but playing 4-on-5 doesn't help. After Faber took a high-sticking penalty, Heiskanen zipped a shot from the slot that eluded Wallstedt's shoulder and scraped the top of the net.
Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist left during the second period after taking an inadvertent skate to the face by Michael McCarron as Lundkvist was being called for tripping McCarron.
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