Wild squanders two leads and a historic streak in a playoff preview loss. The "appetizer" reveals thin margins for Minnesota's playoff hopes.
As Nick Foligno called it: “An appetizer.” The Minnesota Wild (45-22-12) blew a lead twice in the appetizer against the Dallas Stars (47-20-12) en route to a 5-4 loss.
Minnesota entered the third period up 4-3. They were 33-0-4 on the season when leading after two periods and 61-0-4 in the last two years. But in the 66th game, that streak finally snapped.
“This team’s too strong-minded to worry about that,” Nick Foligno said postgame about not getting home ice. “It stinks. Obviously, would have liked to give ourselves a chance at home ice, but I think the big part is just knowing the real stuff starts in a week and we get an opportunity to play great hockey and feel like we are doing a lot of that."
Sure, the real thing doesn't start for a week, but as good as the game was to watch, the Wild lost the "appetizer," which might be a sign of what the entrée will be when the playoff round actually starts.
It was an incredible watch but a brutal reminder for Minnesota. The Wild blew two leads, wasted a historic streak and watched Filip Gustavsson surrender five goals against a team he has historically dominated.
If this was the appetizer, it showed how fun this series will be, but also how thin the margin is for a team trying to avoid a ninth straight first-round exit.
“Listen, there’s going to be things that we’re going to have to do to negate what they do. They’re going to do things to try to stop what we do," Foligno said postgame. "It’s going to be a bit of a chess match, but it’s two good teams, and it’s going to be a great series.”
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