Minnesota Wild Force Game 6 Against Dallas Stars

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Mary Chastain

The Minnesota Wild woke up and beat the Dallas Stars in Texas to force a Game 6 back home.

The Stars still lead the series 3-2.

However, if this Wild team that showed up in Game 4 and Game 5 the Stars will have trouble clinching on Sunday.

“We were up, they were up, and everything happened so quickly,” said Wild center Mikael Granlund. “I’m just really glad we got the win and we get to go back home next game.”

Granlund and Jordan Schroeder put the team up 2-0 in the first, but Stars defenseman Johnny Oduya sparked some life into his team with a goal two minutes left in the period.

The goal did not get down the Wild as both teams played a tough second period with the Stars only outshooting the Wild by one.

But the third period gave heart attacks to Wild and Stars fans. Stars captain Jamie Benn tied the game one minute into the period to tie the game.

That moment lasted exactly 50 seconds.

The excitement caused a daze in the Stars because Wild forward Nino Niederreiter easily grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and easily scored on Antii Niemi.

The Wild did not learn from the Stars because that goal left them disoriented a bit. Stars forward Jason Spezza scored at 8:38 and teammate Alex Goligoski scored 28 seconds later.

The arena exploded and the Stars had only eleven minutes to win the series. The pressure got a little to the Wild, but not goalie Devan Dubnyk, who stayed sharp and on point to fight off the onslaught from the Stars who desperately wanted to win it.

The Stars did not score the next goal. Instead, it came from Wild captain Mikko Koivu. He tied the game with three minutes left in regulation.

Overtime began and the momentum stayed with the Wild as Koivu once again lifted his team into victory and move the series back to Minnesota.

“All the goals tonight and the whole game kept us alive here, and now we have another chance to go home and play in Game 6. Now the preparing starts for that one,” Koivu said after the game.

The teams will fly back to Minnesota for Game 6 on Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern.

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