Boldy's Late Power Play, Kaprizov's Empty Net Send Wild to the Brink

The Minnesota Wild took control of the Western Conference First Round series with a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday. Captain Kirill Kaprizov produced a goal and two assists, and the Wild now lead the best-of-seven 3-2.

Dallas 2, Minnesota 4 (1-1, 0-1, 1-2)

Goals: 1st – Zuccarello (Kaprizov, Hartman) 3:51; Heiskanen (Robertson, Duchene) PP 8:23. 2nd – Boldy (Hughes, Kaprizov) PP 19:38. 3rd – McCarron (Trenin, Tarasenko) 7:47; Robertson (Heiskanen, Rantanen) PP 16:??; Kaprizov (Boldy, Middleton) EN 18:45. Goalies: Oettinger – Wallstedt. Shots: 22-28.

Zuccarello Wakes the Wild

Mats Zuccarello returned to the lineup after a three-game absence and showed why Minnesota had missed him. Tyler Myers turned the puck over in his own zone, Kaprizov fed Zuccarello at the back door, and the veteran finished off the near post 3:51 in. Heiskanen answered on the power play in the late first.

Boldy Wins the Second Period

A scoreless middle stanza broke open with 22 seconds remaining when Boldy buried a Hughes-Kaprizov feed on the power play. The Stars went into the third trailing in a game where they had been even-strength fine, and the home crowd never quite recovered.

McCarron's Insurance, Kaprizov's Exclamation

McCarron skated onto a Trenin pass and beat Oettinger five-hole at 7:47 of the third for a 3-1 lead. Robertson cashed a power play to make it 3-2 with under five minutes left, but Kaprizov closed it with an empty-netter at 18:45 — his fifth point of the night when the assist on Zuccarello's opener is included.

What It Means

Minnesota heads home with a chance to close the series in Game 6. Dallas, the higher seed, will be staring at elimination on the road. Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan acknowledged after the game that "the opponent played excellently — we have to be more diligent in this phase of the playoffs."

Sources: NHL.com, Minnesota Wild, sportnet.sme.sk