Heika’s Take: Stars stick to script in successful pushback, take Game 2 vs. Wild

The Stars do know how to follow a script pretty well.

Yes, they lost the first game of their playoff series… but they almost always do. Yes, they bounced back and won Game 2…pretty much the status quo for this team. But it was how Dallas did it in a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Monday that was impressive.

They brought a physical answer. They scored some goals that included hard work and luck. And they got a brilliant night from goalie Jake Oettinger. That last one might have been the most important in helping the best-of-seven series get tied at 1-1 as the teams head to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4.

“I thought it was a good response from our group, you know Jake played a heck of a game, he made some huge saves for us, that really tilted the ice and determined the outcome of the game,” said forward Colin Blackwell, who came up with a big hit in the game. “I thought special teams came up big tonight when the first game was maybe not our best night. And I thought it was a good response all around.”

The word “response” came up a lot on Monday. It needed to. A Stars team that has worked hard all year to finish second in the West had a ton of holes in Game 1. Dallas lost puck battles, it lost the battle of special teams, and it lost the game in net. Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt won his NHL playoff debut, stopping 27 of 28 shots on goal. The veteran Oettinger allowed five goals on 28 shots, and it came against his hometown team from Minnesota.

So there was a high level of motivation to bounce back in Game 2.

“I just tried to leave my mark on the game,” Oettinger said. “I wanted to step up and be better than I was in Game 1, and I was happy I was able to do that.”

Oettinger made several huge saves in the first period and Wyatt Johnston and Matt Duchene each scored to give the Stars a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. The Johnston goal was simply a hard shot at the net that bounced off the end boards and then deflected in off of Wallstedt’s pad. It was a great lesson for a Dallas team that has been cautious and stingy in its shot attempts at times.

“You’ve already seen in this series a ton of goals just from getting pucks to that area,” Johnston said. “Get the puck there and good things happen when you do that.”

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said the team that played best earned the bounces in each game, and that’s probably a good lesson.

“I thought, for the most part, we worked for it,” Gulutzan said of that play and a Johnston empty-netter that rolled in from distance. “It’s just the way it is, it’s playoff hockey.”

The Stars were never in real panic, as Jason Robertson made a nice re-direction of a Nils Lundkvist pass to make the score 3-1 seven minutes into the third period. Minnesota made it 3-2, but Dallas killed a late penalty and Johnston added his second goal to secure the final score.

“I was just really proud of our penalty kill,” Oettinger said of a 4-for-4 night. “I think all year when we’ve had a bad PK night, we’ve responded really well. The guys that kill penalties for us, they’re not getting all the praise and love, but they’re as important as anyone on our team. You need guys that want to come to the rink every day and kill penalties, and do the little things for the team, and we have a lot of guys like that.”

That’s the team the Stars have been for 82 games. That’s the team they were Monday. As for Game 1, it’s a blip they are trying to learn from.

“I think it’s going to stay like this,” Gulutzan said of the even competitive play that resulted in almost all of the stats being even. “These things can get wonky when it’s this close and there’s this much energy, but I think the energy will stay the same.”

That has been the script in the past. Dallas has rallied to win a lot of these series, and they have pushed many to six or seven games.

“We’ve been in that position before and we should feel good about what we did tonight,” said Oettinger. “Now, we’ve got to go up there and take one from them. It should be exciting.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.