Wild seize momentum, prepare for pushback after Game 5 win against Stars

DALLAS -- Brock Faber doesn't want the day off. He wants to go home, go straight to Grand Casino Arena, get his equipment on, lace up his skates and play Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round as quickly as humanly possible.

"I can't wait to hear that crowd," the Minnesota Wild defenseman said after a 4-2 win in Game 5 against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. "I'd play tomorrow if we could."

Faber and the Wild will unfortunately have to wait until Thursday to have their first chance in 11 years to win a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Wild have not won a series since defeating the St. Louis Blues in the first round in 2015. That is also the last time they have had a lead in a best-of-7 series going into Game 6.

"It's awesome, it's fun," Faber said with a big smile. "They're going to have a huge pushback obviously, and we've got to outcompete them again and give ourselves a chance."

Key word: Again.

The Wild didn't necessarily dominate the Stars in Game 5 at American Airlines Center, but they did everything they needed to do to win and take a 3-2 lead in the series.

"We're getting better as the series goes on," Faber said. "That's the goal."

Minnesota controlled the game at 5-on-5, as it has done for the balance of the series to the tune of outscoring Dallas 11-3 when each team has five skaters on the ice, including 2-0 on Tuesday.

Mats Zuccarello, returning from an upper-body injury that cost him the past three games, made it 1-0 with a 5-on-5 goal at 3:51 of the first period.

Michael McCarron got behind both Dallas defensemen Tyler Myers and Esa Lindell to make it 3-1 with a 5-on-5 goal at 7:47 of the third.

The Stars didn't have a push at 5-on-5 until after McCarron scored.

They haven't scored a 5-on-5 goal in the past two games, a streak of 217:53 since Jason Robertson's goal at 13:48 of the first period in Game 3.

"It's huge," McCarron said. "We try to make teams go the full 200-feet. We're not really having more than two to three turnovers a game that lead to odd-man rushes. This team is really skilled, they know how to score on the rush, and we're just trying not to let them get too much on the rush. I think we're making really good puck decisions."

The Wild finally got some positive results from their power play, with Matt Boldy scoring to give them a 2-1 lead at 19:28 of the second period.

They were 1-for-15 on the power play in the past three games, all without Zuccarello. They had gone 12 straight power plays without scoring until Boldy connected.

"Quinn (Hughes) made some great plays on top, 'Zuccy' too, Kirill (Kaprizov) as well," Boldy said. "When we're doing that, and we're winning battles and getting pucks back, that's when we're at our best."

Certainly, Zuccarello's return played a role in Minnesota's power play looking more dangerous than it did in the three games he missed. They moved the puck better. They got the puck into the slot and got some inside chances.

But Boldy's point about winning battles and getting pucks back to create his goal, a shot blocker-side shot from the top of the right face-off circle, was echoed by coach John Hynes.

"Puck battles," Hynes said. "We won at least three or four puck battles to keep the play alive, and that's when opportunities present themselves. It's five guys that are obviously highly skilled, but I thought tonight there was an intensity level of the little things that can make it go."​

Once again, the Stars scored a power-play goal, Miro Heiskanen netting their ninth of the series to make it 1-1 at 8:58 of the first period, but the Wild overcame that and came up with massive, aggressive kills when it mattered most.

Dallas couldn't score with Joel Eriksson Ek in the box at 3:47 of the second period, the Wild doing enough to keep the game locked 1-1 by stopping the Stars' streak of scoring on four consecutive power plays since Wyatt Johnston's double overtime goal in Game 3.

The Wild killed Jake Middleton's tripping penalty at 8:43 of the third period, keeping the momentum they got from McCarron's goal that gave them a two-goal lead just 56 seconds earlier.

McCarron blocked two shots during that kill, one from Mikko Rantanen and another from Heiskanen on what looked like Grade A looks.

"That was huge," forward Marcus Foligno said. "Before we probably couldn't get out of that hole. The penalty kill would get a little discombobulated and a little frustrated and then you're seeing kind of weird errors and guys trying to do too much. I think we just relaxed."

That's what they have to do now before the roar returns to Grand Casino Arena on Thursday, this time with the home team having a chance to do something it hasn't done in 11 years.

"It's going to be fun,” Faber said. “We've got to be ready to compete. We've got to control our emotions. Sometimes when it gets loud like that you're kind of running all over. Try to stay poised, feed off it. It's going to be a fun night."