3 Takeaways From Wild’s 3-2 Overtime Win Over the Stars in Game 4 – Hockey Writers – Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild hosted the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon, April 25, in Game 4 with the Stars taking a 2-1 series lead. The Wild were also without two big pieces of their roster in Mats Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin, meaning Bobby Brink and Nico Sturm were in again.

Jesper Wallstedt left the net, the game started in favor of the Stars at the beginning of the first, but the Wild answered later, the time ended with a 1-1 tie. The Stars scored again at the end of the second and took a 2-1 lead in the third. The Wild tied it in the final third and forced overtime, winning with 29 seconds left. In this article, we’ll look at a few takeaways, starting with two of their players who continue to stand out.

Wild’s Faber and Wallstedt continue to shine

The Wild knew they had a special player in Brock Faber when they traded him in 2022, sending Kevin Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings. He didn’t join the team in the regular season following the trade because he was still at the University of Minnesota, but when his college season was over, he made the jump to the NHL, in the postseason no less, and made quite an impression.

He only played two games, but his play caught the attention of the Wild coaching staff. The following season following training camp, he found himself a permanent fixture on the Wild’s roster, and has been there ever since. Faber made his presence known for the Wild this postseason with three goals including one in Game 4 that gave his team a big boost.

Apart from Faber, one other person should be mentioned, and that is the goalkeeper Jesper Wallstedt. At first, it looked like Filip Gustavsson would be the starter, but at the end of the season, he struggled, and Wallstedt thrived, so the Wild went with the hot hand, and it worked out very well. He was a rock from the moment of the first save in Game 1, and he stopped again in Game 4 and was a big reason they won the game.

“I mean you can tell right away, he has confidence in himself which you obviously need from your goalkeeper. The way he’s young, how talented he is and how strong he is in the net, he wants to be on the ice, he wants to be on the ice in big games, that’s what makes him so special and he’s been playing amazingly, you know him, he can’t wait for the next conference,” said Brother. The first thing he knows is that Wallstedt will do well in the postseason.

The Wild’s Power Play continues to suffer

The Wild have a lot of talent on their power play, but for some reason, they have struggled to get going after their big win in the first game against the Stars. After that game, it seemed like nothing was going to go right with the man advantage, but the Stars pulled through and won. Then, in Game 3, the same storyline unfolded as there were multiple calls both ways. The Wild converted one of seven while the Stars scored three of eight.

In Game 4, the Stars scored again on their power plays while the Wild struggled to not only be determined in their plays but also to get shots. They found a way to get a win in overtime without their power play, but they can’t do that forever, and they need their power play to get back to where it was in Game 1.

“Yeah, I think you know for me, we’re going to be happy to win, the guys fought hard, and we’re going to reevaluate this game and come back to it tomorrow and start preparing again,” head coach John Hynes told the media in his postgame press conference about what he saw on the power play.

Impossible Heroes in the Wild

The Wild found themselves behind when they went down in the third period when the fourth line stepped up. They looked solid all night, especially Nico Sturm, who was all over the ice blocking shots with his body and putting the stick in the goal lines. He contributed in every way, and should have helped send the game to overtime.

Marcus Foligno had a rough start to the series, but in Game 4, he stepped up and more than threw his weight around. He pushed to the net and was rewarded as Sturm took the first shot, and Foligno was waiting at the door to get around Jake Oettinger and slam it in. It was a crazy performance that kept his team in the game and rewarded the fourth line that worked so hard all game. The last member of the lineup, Michael McCarron, didn’t tally an assist in goal, but like Sturm, he did wonders with good stick work and speed.

“You have to get production in different ways, and it was nice to see those guys come in and get us a big goal and I thought Sturmy looked good, he hadn’t played in a long time and then he came in, I thought he was very good last game, he didn’t get a ton of ice time, he got more tonight and he was a sure thing,” Hynes told the media in his post-game four press conference.

The Wild are about to head south to face the Stars in Dallas for Game 5, which will take place on Tuesday evening, April 28, but with this win, they are guaranteed to return home for Game 6, which will take place on Thursday, April 30, at a time to be announced. Hopefully, the Wild can use some of this energy and come home with a big road win.