It’s a pivotal Game 5 tonight in Dallas with the series tied 2-2 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2, FanDuel Sports Network and KFAN FM 100.3. Minnesota evened the series on Saturday night with a 3-2 overtime win that saw Matt Boldy score the game-winning goal with a tip-in in front of the net on a shot taken from Jared Spurgeon. That marked the fifth overtime win at home for Minnesota in franchise history, and the first since Game 3 of the First Round in 2013.
Minnesota comes into tonight’s game outscoring Dallas 14-11 in the series, with 11 of its 14 goals coming in five-on-five situations. Minnesota’s power play continues to be a topic of conversation as it is just 3-19 in the series, including an 0-4 outing on Saturday. With that said, Minnesota could get a boost in that department as Mats Zuccarello is slotting back into the lineup after missing the last three games. In his lone game of the series (Game 1), Zuccarello tallied three assists and helped Minnesota go 2-4 on the power play.
For Dallas, their power play is proving to be a thorn in Minnesota’s side. They have scored at least one power play goal in all four games of the series, going 2-2 for Game 4. In total, Dallas is 8-19 on the power play for the series (42.1%). Scoring five-on-five for Dallas, however, has been a problem. The Stars have not scored an even strength goal since the first period of Game 3, or 157:53 of game action.
As far as previous Game 5’s go for either team, Minnesota owns a 5-10 record with all five wins coming on the road. Dallas is 31-32 all-time in Game 5’s, with an 18-8 record at home. Minnesota has only had one 3-2 series lead in franchise history and it went onto win that series. For Dallas, they are 23-3 all-time if they take a 3-2 series lead in the postseason.
