The Minnesota Wild defeated the Dallas Stars 4-2 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is scheduled for Thursday in St. Paul.
Game 5 Summary
Mats Zuccarello scored early in the first period in his return from a head injury. Matt Boldy added a power-play goal in the second period. Michael McCarron scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the third period. Kirill Kaprizov sealed the victory with an empty-net goal and also recorded two assists.
Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt made 20 saves in the win.
Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson scored for the Stars. Robertson has scored a goal in each game of the series.
Both teams reported injuries during the game. Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin left early in the second period with a lower-body injury and was later seen on crutches with a protective boot on his right foot. Stars forward Arttu Hyry also sustained a lower-body injury midway through the second period.
Series Statistics
According to the current data, the Wild have outscored the Stars 14-4 at even strength and 11-3 at five-on-five over the course of the series. Dallas has not scored a five-on-five goal in 207 minutes and 53 seconds of play.
Historically, the winner of Game 5 when a series is tied 2-2 has won the series 79.4% of the time.
Previous Game Context
In Game 4, the Wild trailed 2-1 in the third period before Marcus Foligno tied the game with 5:20 remaining. Matt Boldy scored the overtime winner, giving the Wild a 3-2 victory to extend the series.
Upcoming Game
Game 6 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. The winner of the series will face the Colorado Avalanche in the second round.