3 Takeaways From Stars’ Disappointing Game 6 Loss to Wild

The Dallas Stars have had some heartbreaking moments in the postseason in recent years. But their first-round series against the Minnesota Wild may have been their most disappointing result to date. The Stars held a 2-1 series lead and were on the cusp of taking a 3-1 lead in Game 4, but things unraveled in a hurry.

Some concerns quickly emerged, especially in five-on-five situations, and they ultimately proved costly to the Stars in Game 6. Injuries were a factor, specifically to Roope Hintz, but I’m not sure he would have made a difference. This Stars team just didn’t have the juice.

Stars Once Again Failed to Score Enough at 5-on-5

You want to get off to a quick start in an elimination game, but the Stars did anything but that in Game 6. The Wild took a 1-0 lead, and could have easily been down 2-0 if Marcus Foligno hadn’t gotten too cute trying to stick-handle and deke a goal past Jake Oettinger.

The Stars got thoroughly outplayed at five-on-five in the first period. They were out-attempted 17-7 and generated just one high-danger chance. The Wild also controlled just above 80 percent of the expected goals (xG%) in the opening frame. They were fortunate that the Wild only took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

That provided the Stars a chance to get back in the game, and of course, it was their power play that tied the game. That goal seemed to give the Stars some life at five-on-five. One issue they had in the first period was that they couldn’t establish a forecheck and get the cycle game going. The Wild broke out of the defensive zone without much trouble, but that changed after Wyatt Johnston’s tying goal.

The Stars found some sustained offensive zone time, and it led to Mavrik Bourque giving the team a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. The Wild scored a mere minute later to tie the game, and that was about the best the Stars looked at five-on-five until about midway through the third period, when it was too late.

A lack of five-on-five production was the story of the series for the Stars. The Wild outscored the Stars 14-4 at five-on-five across the six games. It’s unfortunate because the Stars’ man advantage couldn’t have been any better than it was. Had they scored more five-on-five goals, we’d be getting ready to preview a second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche. Instead, an offseason of intrigue awaits in Dallas.

Rantanen Was a Ghost

We’ll see if any details emerge at cleanout day, but Mikko Rantanen did not look like himself in this series. His five-on-five struggles were emblematic of the team’s five-on-five woes. He totaled just one five-on-five point throughout the series.

Head coach Glen Gulutzan tried shaking up his line combos to find a spark at five-on-five, but it had no effect. Rantanen was one of the Stars’ worst five-on-five skaters in Game 6, totaling an xG% of 28.08 percent, ranking him third-worst among Stars skaters.