Stars vs. Wild: Minnesota Eliminates Dallas With 4-3 Win; Blackhawks Clinch Playoff Spot

For the third time this weekend, a team was playing a “win and you’re in” final game of the season against a team that had nothing to gain or lose. For the third time, that team lost. The Dallas Stars will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as they lost to the Minnesota Wild 4-3 at the XCel Energy Center Sunday night. The Stars finish in ninth place, while the Chicago Blackhawks will make the post-season and play the Vancouver Canucks in round one. The Stars have no one to blame but themselves, as this game was winnable, but they let it get a way with spurts of flat-out terrible offensive play, despite getting two power play goals.

The Wild came out flying, and eventually struck first. At 6:05 of the first period, Brad Staubitz got the rebound of a Brett Burns shot. He waited out just long enough and made a great backhand to give the Wild the lead. He beat Kari Lehtonen for his fourth goal of the season. It almost looked as if another team headed towards a “win and in” situation would falter early, but the Stars got their game in gear.

Richards tied the game at 12:22. The Stars came out on a two-on one with Jamie Benn and Brad Richards. The puck eventually ended up on the stick of the trailer, Loui Eriksson, who fed it back to Richards and beat Jose Theodore glove side. It was Richards’ career-high 28th goal of the season, and it tied the game at 1-1.

At 5:38 of the second period, the Wild got their first power play of the game. Brandon Segal hauled down a Minnesota player in the slot. The Wild were able to cash in on the ensuing power play. Andrew Brunette made a great pass to Jared Spurgeon, who hauled a one-timer past Kari Lehtonen to make it 2-2. It was the fourth goal of Spurgeon’s career at 7:19 of the second.

A little more than four minutes later, the Wild struck again on another backhander. Kyle Brodziak set up Colton Gillies for the backhand. After spending sometime in the AHL, Gillies has returned to the big show, and gets his first goal of the year. It’s a big one, however, and it made it 3-2 Minnesota. The Stars started to get on their heels quite a bit, and they seemed to have lost a lot of momentum in general in the third.

Despite this, the Stars eventually got back on their feet, and a two-man advantage certainly helped. Gillies and Greg Zanon took penalties within 22 seconds of each other at 17:36 and 17:58. Alex Goligoski found the net at 18:17 on a feed from Eriksson. Eriksson had three assists, while Goligoski had two, and his 14th goal of the year to make it a 3-3 tie.

It was quiet for the first few minutes of the third, but then both teams traded unsuccessful power plays. Shortly after the Wild’s turn on the job, a cycle down low ended in Andrew Brunette finding a streaking Antii Miettenen cross-ice for a beauty of a one-timer. It was Miettenen’s 16th at 6:47, and once again the Stars were forced into a must-score situation. Though, as one might note, every minute in every game is a must-score situation. But here the Stars were, needing a goal in 13:13 to at least get them a five-minute reprieve to save their season. Realistically, they needed two goals.

Give credit to the Wild though. Even with nothing to play for, Minnesota took delight in playing the spoiler, and put on a tough third period. Jose Theodore - who’d been average in the first two periods - was as solid as you could ask him to be in the final frame. The former Hart Trophy winner made 11 saves in the third, and 26 for the whole game. Kari Lehtonen had no chance on most of the Minnesota goals, but didn’t get that one extra save that would’ve kept the game tied. He made 18 saves for the game. The Wild sealed the deal in the waning seconds, as they just couldn’t keep the puck in with Lehtonen pulled, and a Pierre-Marc Bouchard slapper finished the Stars season. Bouchard’s 12th of the year at 19:47 essentially ended it.

So now the Stars may be thinking of the Led Zeppelin song “Nobody’s Fault but Mine.” They had a chance to complete a terrific run of four straight wins to make the post-season on the final day of the campaign, and blew it to a team with nothing to play for. They will wait until next fall. While the Wild will as well, they can do so thinking a few positive thoughts as they head home for the summer. Now, we the hockey fans wait till Wednesday for the second season to begin.