The Stars went 68 minutes in Game 1 against the Minnesota Wild without being able to beg, borrow or steal a goal.
The scores came in bunches in Game 2 Wednesday against Minnesota, a more than timely 7-3 win over the Wild at American Airlines Center.
Think of every possible way to score short of a penalty shot and the Stars accomplished it – the power play, shorthanded, even strength, deflections, on the rush.
They came in bunches, with four alone for the Stars in the second period.
Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov connected 87 seconds apart.
Then, after the Wild closed to win a goal at 4-3, Dadonov and Roope Hintz scored 48 seconds apart for a 6-3 lead after two periods.
Hintz (three goals) and Dadonov (two goals, one assist) led the offensive onslaught that tied the Dallas Stars record for most goals in a playoff game. The Dallas Stars' other seven-goal playoff performance came Aug. 20, 2020, vs. Calgary in the bubble.
Hintz’s backdoor cut at 12:16 of the third period completed his hat trick. He became the 15th player to score a hat trick in three different ways in NHL playoff history. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen set a Dallas Stars postseason record for assists by a defenseman with four.
The best-of-seven opening round series is tied 1-1 with the next two games shifting to St. Paul. Game 3 is Friday.
The Stars again played without center Joe Pavelski, who has entered concussion protocol after a taking a jarring hit from Matt Dumba in the second period of Game 1.
This time, the Stars adjusted, moving Tyler Seguin to first line alongside Hintz and Jason Robertson.
While the Stars didn’t exactly match the Wild’s physicality, they did punish Minnesota for its aggressiveness, going 3 of 6 on the power play
The Stars blitzed Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for seven goals on 31 shots. Minnesota coach Dean Evason opted to go with Fleury despite a standout 51-save performance by Filip Gustavsson in the 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 1.
Hintz gave the Stars an early lead on a shorthanded breakaway with Wyatt Johnston off for hooking Sam Steel. Seguin made it 2-0 on a power-play redirection, normally the domain of Pavelski.
Oskar Sundqvist cut the Stars' lead in half late in the first period before things took an out-of-control turn in the second period.
The Stars built the lead to 4-1 early in the third period when captain Jamie Benn converted from the left circle on the power play. Dadonov, acquired from Montreal at the trade deadline, followed with the first of his two goals in the period.
The Wild made it 4-3 on goals 11 seconds apart by Marcus Johansson and Frederick Gaudreau.
Any suspense disappeared when Dadonov and Hintz scored late in the period.
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