Stars take down Wild in chippy Game 2

On Wednesday evening the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild squared off in Game 2 of their series with the Stars coming out on top 7-3. The best-of-7 series is now tied at 1-1.

The Wild decided to put future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury in net for the game. Fleury was only able to save 24 of the 31 shots he faced. The decision to start Flower is a bit of a head scratcher now looking back, especially since Filip Gustavsson had a historic 52 save performance in Game 1.

Dallas scored the first two goals of the game with Roope Hintz (4:14) and Tyler Seguin (11:20) scoring to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. Oskar Sundqvist would counter with a goal of his own at the 16:11 mark of the opening period cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Right back in it! #MNWILD | #GritFirst pic.twitter.com/iiLmsr6uYp

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 20, 2023

In the second period Dallas would once again get back-to-back goals, this time by Jamie Benn (4:07) and Evgenii Dadonov (5:34), extending the Stars’ lead to 4-1. Minutes later Marcus Johansson (11:54) and Freddy Gaudreau (12:05) scored goals 11 seconds apart, cutting the deficit back to 1, this time at 4-3. Dallas ended the period scoring two more goals by Evengii Dadonov (16:08) and Roope Hintz (16:56) increasing the lead back to three again, this time at 6-3.

PPG

Marcus Johansson buries it to cut the lead. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/IJ8Eogos3b

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 20, 2023

FREDDY IS FREAKY FAST#MNWILD | #GritFirst pic.twitter.com/x25M5Yvfzw

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 20, 2023

The Stars scored the third period’s lone goals at the 12:16 mark, where Roope Hintz would complete his hat trick, extending the Dallas lead to four at 7-3.

In the final five minutes of the game seven 10 minute game misconducts were given out, four to Minnesota and three to Dallas. The culprits for Minnesota were Kirill Kaprizov, Marcus Foligno, Ryan Reaves, and Brandon Duhaime. As for Dallas, Ryan Suter, Jamie Benn, and Max Domi all earned game misconducts.

Wild head coach Dean Evason met with the media after the game:

Dean Evason speaks with the media following the Game 2 loss to the Dallas Stars. #MNWILD pic.twitter.com/trgOrxe33Z

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 20, 2023

Game four will be in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center on Friday night with puck drop set for 8:30 p.m.