Statistical Review: Wild 0, Stars 4

ST. PAUL - There was a lot at stake coming into this game for the Wild yet they walked away with a 4-0 loss to the Dallas Stars after allowing two shorthanded goals and one power-play goal. 

Dallas, a divisional rival, stomped the Wild earlier in the season in November which was the eventual beginning of an end to the Dean Evason era as the Wild allowed two shorthanded goals and five power-play goals to the Stars in that game on November 12th. 

Evason was fired four days later with the Wild sitting at 5-10-4. John Hynes then took this team to an 11-3-0 stretch before some injuries took out some of the Wild's key players. Now the Wild are 12-8-0 under Hynes and the result of tonight's game looked the exact same as two months ago. 

“I don't know what's happened before I got here. I just know what happened in tonight's game," Hynes said. "I think there were some clear opportunities where we got to execute better. And that's what the focus is of, whether it's the guys on the ice or the guys on the bench, the coaching staff, that's really what it comes down to."

The Wild started the game with a great first period when it came to 5-on-5 play but after the first period, the game completely changed. They were not clearing pucks or entering the zone like they were before.

The Stars didn't generate a single high-danger chance off the rush and only had four total shots in the first period. After the first, the Wild allowed four high-danger chances off the rush and eight total high-danger chances in periods two and three. 

According to NaturalStattrick, the Stars created two high-danger chances on their penalty kill alone and only allowed three high-danger chances for the Wild while they were on the power play.

"Yeah, it's extremely frustrating obviously. They had two shorthanded goals. It’s unacceptable against a rival, it's unacceptable against any team in this league," Brock Faber said. "You don't win hockey games giving up to shorthanded goals, and one of those falls on my shoulders obviously, and it's frustrating."

Faber got caught in the defensive zone trying to break the puck out before Tyler Seguin stripped the puck away from him and set up Roope Hintz who was left alone in front of the net. Hintz picked up his 16th goal of the year on that play and got the first of two shorthanded goals for the Stars in the game. 

"As a team, we weren't good enough," Faber said. "Everyone kind of has to look inward after that one, especially myself. Obviously very frustrated with my game tonight. Again, we're lucky that we have them in a couple of nights here."

The Wild finished the night with ten failed zone exits with seven of them coming in the final two periods. Dallas finished with 20 shots on the night. Seven of which came off the rush so the Wild did a good job of not allowing much on the rush but it was just the special teams play that got them in a jam. 

Minnesota had six power play chances tonight and didn't convert on any of them. They were looking for the cute play way too much. Looking for a back door tap-in or a wide-open one-timer. The Wild had six power play attempts and only recorded seven shots.

“We didn’t want to shoot the puck," Hynes said. "There were times they were in a diamond, and, I mean, Boldy back to Faber — when you look at it, you see what’s going on. We’re just slow in our thought process and looking for a better play when the right play was to shoot the puck. So, there’s things that I think are easily fixable.

“It just wasn’t a good night on the power play, and I think at the end of the day, we didn’t score a goal — and you’re not gonna win (any) games on that. But I think that was the biggest difference in the game.”

On the Stars' second shorthanded goal, it was Freddy Gaudreau who turned the puck over in the offensive zone in the third period. Radek Faksa and Sam Steel then went off to the races before Faksa tapped in his third of the year giving the Stars a 3-0 lead. 

“I thought we did a good job of not taking penalties but we gave up two power-play goals," Pat Maroon said. "You’re not going to win a hockey game. I hate to break it to you but it’s just a momentum killer, to be honest with you and it’s unfortunate because we did have a good first. I don’t know. We just gotta find a way to get better here.”

Jason Robertson picked up his 14th of the season just about a minute later after Ryan Hartman went to the box. The Stars eventually walked away with a 4-0 win and have now scored four shorthanded goals and six power-play goals in their last two games against the Wild.

"Well, it's a big part of what we do, has been the last two years, so a lot of guys buy into it," Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said on his penalty kill. "And you know, your goaltender is always your best penalty killer, but we've got a group of guys that are built back there to kill some penalties. And then when you've added Roope Hintz and Seguin. And some of those guys, Sam Steel, who has an offensive element to him, make you dangerous going the other way."

All rush data, exits data, and rush data via Dylan Loucks. Other stats from NaturalStatTrick.com.