DALLAS — Two days after the Minnesota Wild defeated the Dallas Stars 5-2 at Xcel Energy Center Ronald Acuna Jr. Atlanta Braves Jersey , the Wild seek another favorable result in the rematch Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
In that victory, which made the Wild (43-24-10, 96 points) 5-2-3 in their past 10 games, Minnesota got two goals from Zach Parise, a short-handed goal from Mikael Granlund and power-play goals from Matt Dumba and Jason Zucker.
But none were bigger than Granlund’s equalizer, which came after Dallas had taken an early 1-0 lead thanks to a goal by Stars captain Jamie Benn and with Dallas in the early stages of a four-minute power play.
“Absolutely, we’re down 1-0, they can make it two, potentially three at that point and we score the goal while short-handed. It was a big turning point,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said postgame. “It gave us a lot of life after that because we were pretty dead the first eight or 10 minutes.”
Minnesota is 17-18-12 on the road and will likely be without defenseman Gustav Olofsson (upper body) after Boudreau termed Olofsson “very questionable” to travel to Dallas for the rematch after Thursday’s victory.
Besides seeing his team respond well to the early deficit on Thursday, Boudreau also sees something else rather encouraging from the Wild as near the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs-strong team unity, which often manifests itself in players sticking up for one another and propping each other up.
“Well Rashaan Gaulden Color Rush Jersey , that’s the only way you can win is if you’re a team through and through. Sticking up for each other is a big sign of it,” Boudreau said.
Dallas (39-31-8, 86 points), on the other hand, has dropped nine of its past 10 games. The Stars, who are 25-12-3 at home, are literally hanging on in the race for one of the two wild-card playoff spots in the Western Conference.
The Stars, who have four regular-season games remaining (three road, one home), are currently six points behind Colorado and St. Louis (92 points each) for the final wild-card spot in the West. The Blues also have a game in hand.
But as it has been for much of March, a lack of effort hasn’t been the issue for the Stars. Its recent rash of losses have instead been because of a lack of execution on both ends of the ice.
“We worked hard again,” Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said after Thursday’s loss. “We battled like crazy Cheap Baker Mayfield Jersey , competed, did the things you want to ask for. Every mistake that we made ended up in our net and the chances we had, we didn’t finish on and they did. They seemed to turn our scoring chances into our goals. Again, we competed at a very, very high level and that’s the way we’re going to finish the year.”
Stars defenseman Stephen Johns left Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury and afterward Hitchcock confirmed Johns might have a concussion.
After practice on Friday, Hitchcock said Johns will miss Saturday’s game, so Julius Honka will replace him on the Stars’ blue line. Hitchcock said Johns could miss at least the next four or five days, making his status for Dallas’ three-game road trip to California next week uncertain at best.
Dallas is just 1-7-2 in its last 10 games and Saturday will mark the Stars’ final home game of the season, making it only fitting that the organization will honor franchise icon Mike Modano, who was originally selected first overall in the 1988 draft by the Minnesota North Stars five years before that franchise relocated to Dallas.
But all is not lost, at least not yet, for the Stars http://www.saintsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marcus-davenport-jersey , who still maintain the slimmest of hopes of making the postseason. Dallas would not only have to win out, but the Stars would also need a lot of help.
Still, veteran center Jason Spezza isn’t giving up the fight, at least not until the Stars are officially eliminated.
“Five-on-five, we did a good job (on Thursday),” Spezza said. “We controlled the play five-on-five. We gave up too much on the special-teams end. It’s hard to win on the road that way.”
MINNEAPOLIS — When the Minnesota Timberwolves clinched their first playoff berth in 14 years with a win against Denver in the regular-season finale, the home crowd at Target Center erupted in jubilation as the drought ended.
Minnesota went on the road to Houston and lost the first two games of the first-round series. The Timberwolves and their fans hope a return home can get them back in the series.
The Rockets come to Minnesota on Saturday with a 2-0 lead after Wednesday’s dominating 102-82 victory, leaving the Timberwolves wondering how to make their mark and hoping they can get a boost from the home crowd.
“It feels good,” Minnesota forward Andrew Wiggins told the Minneapolis Star
Tribune about returning home. “Houston took care of business up there and now
we’ve got to do the same up here. I know the fans will be excited, the
atmo
sphere will be crazy and the whole team, we’re confident. We’re ready.”
Wiggins believes — maybe hopes — the fans will be as involved as they were during the season finale. The Wolves missed the playoffs for 13 straight seasons before this year. The last home playoff game was in the 2004 Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I think it’ll be crazy, kind of like the Denver game Joel Iyiegbuniwe Color Rush Jersey ,” Wiggins told the Star Tribune. “Fans were just screaming and into the game the whole time. We’re home. The fans will be into it. I’m excited. I know the guys are too.”
Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau knows a lot is on the line on Saturday.
“You’re trying to erase 14 years of losing,” Thibodeau told the Star Tribune. “It’s not an easy thing to do. This team has fought like crazy all year. We were basically a three-seed when Jimmy (Butler) went down. We finished a game out of the fourth spot. I’m proud of what they’ve done and now our challenge is to win this next game.”
It won’t be easy against Houston.
The Rockets only shot 36.5 percent from the field in Game 2 and James Harden was limited to 12 points in 30:46. Yet, Houston won by 20 after squeaking by with a three-point win in Game 1.
“We haven’t played very well so far,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni told the Houston Chronicle. “It’ll be crazy up there. They haven’t been in the playoffs for a long time. It will be a very loud crowd. We have to do our part, play defense and take the crowd out of it. We have to be ready for all they got. Whatever they have left, we’re going to get it full throttle right when we get on the floor to start the game.”
Minnesota actually was the aggressor early in Game 2, leading after the first quarter. But the Wolves shot 38.8 percent from the field. All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns finished with just five points on 2-of-9 shooting. Butler had 11 points, while Wiggins scored 13.
The Wolves were one of the league’s best teams at home with a 30-11 record, but they lost all four games in the regular season to Houston, including twice at Target Center.
“They have a really good team at home,” Harden told the Chronicle. “Nothing’s changed for us. We’ve been a pretty good road team all year. Go out there, execute Authentic Martin Fehervary Jersey , limit our turnovers … and just make it tough, make it tough for every guy on their team. We haven’t shot the ball well yet. Knock down some shots, and we’ll be good.”
Minnesota is looking to possibly change its approach. Point guard Jeff Teague has been outspoken at times this year and said the key on Saturday will be playing up tempo to get the crowd in the game.
“What we’ve been playing like hasn’t worked,” Teague told the Star Tribune. “We lost both games, and we played a slow pace. I think we played right into their hands. Last time we played them here at home (in March), we got out in the second half and picked up the pace and made it a closer game. That’s the only way we can play to be successful against this team.”
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