Boldy has OT winner with 29 seconds left, Wild take Game 4 to even series with Stars

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Matt Boldy scored on a deflection with 29 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at Grand Casino Arena on Saturday.

Jared Spurgeon took the initial shot from the point that Boldy redirected at the left post for the winner. 

"It was a great forecheck (by Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill (Kaprizov), and a great shot by Jared," Boldy said. "I was just lucky enough to have it hit my stick and go in."

Boldy initially looked to score with 5:24 left in the extra period, but the goal was immediately called off due to a kicking motion.

"The kick one I basically knew right away," he said. "It was just kind of a natural reaction."

Marcus Foligno pulled the Wild into a 2-2 tie at 14:40 of the third period when he controlled his own rebound while falling over Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger at the left post and backhanding the puck into the net.

"There's a lot of belief in here," Foligno said. "These are two unreal teams, and we've got to understand they're a heck of a hockey club and it's going to take this type of effort every night against this squad. There's no pouting in here. We took a lot of positives out of (a 4-3 double overtime loss in Game 3 on Wednesday) and we got rewarded tonight."

Brock Faber had a goal and an assist, Kaprizov had two assists, and Jesper Wallstedt made 43 saves for the Wild, the No. 3 seed in the Central Division.

"We just keep fighting, keep getting pucks to the net," Wallstedt, who made nine saves in overtime, said. "We keep playing and we never give up. It felt like we really deserved this one."

Matt Duchene and Mikko Rantanen each had two assists, and Oettinger made 40 saves for Dallas, the No. 2 seed from the Central Division. 

"These are player games," Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We're making tweaks every game, tweaks everyday. We've got a couple things in our mind already for (Sunday) that we can button up for the next game, but it's the war of the blue paint. You need to get in there and find some pucks, get some sticks on things and win some battles when it's that contested. 

"It's really now hand-to-hand combat, and blue paint (battles), for both sides." 

The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2. Game 5 will be at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, ESPN2, TVAS2, SN360).

"We got home ice now and it's best-of-3," Rantanen said. "This group has been in this situation before, so we're pretty familiar."

Jason Robertson gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal on a snap shot from the bottom of the left circle at 5:35 of the first period. Duchene had the puck in the slot and passed to Robertson in stride toward the net in the left circle.

Faber made it 1-1 when his wrist shot from the right point deflected off Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen's left leg in the slot and past Oettinger at 13:52. 

"I just think our mindset is more taking whatever the game is giving us. Coming out, and playing and staying with it," Minnesota coach John Hynes said. "I think we've done a good job of that and I think there were some lessons out of the first couple of games of making sure that we're just playing. We're going over the boards and regardless of what the situation is or what happens, we're focused on playing how we need to play regardless of the circumstances."

The Wild appeared to take a 2-1 lead 18:33 into the second period when Eriksson Ek's attempt outside the left post deflected off Heiskanen and into the net. The goal was waved off, however, because the referee ruled that Eriksson Ek interfered with Oettinger by pushing Heiskanen into the goalie.

Heiskanen put Dallas back in front 2-1 with a power-play goal at 19:25 of the second period, scoring on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that sailed over the glove of Wallstedt.

"That's how it goes sometimes in the playoffs," Heiskanen said. "I think we played a solid game and could have won that, but just couldn't capitalize and that's how it goes." 

Dallas went 2-for-2 on the power play and Minnesota went 0-for-4 (three shots on goal). In the Stars' Game 3 win, Dallas went 3-for-8 on the power play while Minnesota was 1-for-7. 

"We couldn't get any puck luck (5-on-5)," Gulutzan said. "We're going to have to start to get some sticks on some of those pucks because both sides are contested. We just got to keep working to make our own puck luck out there."

NOTES: The Stars played with just five defensemen for half the game after Nils Lundkvist exited after sustaining a facial cut from the skate of Wild forward Michael McCarron after tripping the Wild forward at 13:15 of the second period. Gulutzan said Lundkvist will be re-evaluated in Dallas. ... Robertson is the second player in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history with a four-game goal streak to begin a postseason, following Steve Payne (four games in 1981). ... Robertson has goals in six straight games against the Wild since Dec. 11 (regular and postseason combined). ... Minnesota hasn't scored on the power play in their past 10 opportunities. ... The Wild were without forward Yakov Trenin for a second straight game, and forward Mats Zuccarello for a third straight game. Each has an upper-body injury. ... Faber became the first defenseman in franchise history with three goals in a playoff series.