NHL Playoffs, Stars vs Wild Game 5: Full highlights, final score and more

The Dallas Stars lost 5-4 to the Minnesota Wild in OT; now they just barely lead the series 3-2.

Thanks to a goal in the last 3:09 minutes of regulation from Minnesota center Mikko Koivu, the Wild are bringing the Stars back to their own ice of the Xcel Energy Center with hopes of tying up the series. Koivu redirected Ryan Suter’s shot from the left in an OT period to beat the Stars 5-4. The forward was the leading scorer for Minnesota in the regular season with 56 points, but in the postseason he had only scored a goal without an assist until this point.

Now, the Stars are obviously the superior team–regular season stats proving Dallas to be the top seed in the Western Conference really don’t lie–but the Wild aren’t playing like the underdog in this postseason anymore, forcing the Stars into a longer series than most fans anticipated. It’s clear that the Stars are making errors, and mistakes can turn even the best team into a weak one if the opponent is smart enough to capitalize on them, like the Wild: within the first 5.5 minutes of play alone, the Wild got on the board not once, but twice, thanks to Mikael Granlund and Jordan Schroeder, giving them the first push in the game that ultimately sealed their win.

Though Game 5 only saw a handful of penalties within the first half of the game, the contest was neck-and-neck as teams nervously scrambled for the win. The first period was noticeably a lethargic start for the Stars, but as the game continued, they grew more and more determined to seal the series win at home.

Antti Niemi, the second starting goalie for Dallas, stopped 19 out of 24 shots on goal in his second start in the postseason. He stopped 28 shots in Dallas’s 3-2 win in Game 4, but giving up two goals in less than 5.5 minutes into Game 5 might raise some eyebrows. After two close games, it’s questionable whether or not Stars coach Lindy Ruff will keep Niemi in the net or replace him with Kari Lehtonen, who started the first three games of the series.

Dallas made a total of 85 shots on goal during Game 5, 40 more than their opponents. If the Stars want to clinch the series win in Game 6, they need to be sure to execute with the puck. For a league-topping offense, this shouldn’t be difficult, but the lack of energy and drive the players of demonstrated in the last few games says otherwise.

Three Stars

C Mikko Koivu (WILD)

Koivu both tied the game and ultimately won it for the Wild, scoring two goals minutes apart and at extremely crucial points in the game.

LW Jamie Benn (STARS)

The captain’s performance was relatively quiet after his scoring success in Game 2 of the series. However, Benn finally reasserted his presence with an essential Stars goal one minute into the third period, tying the game 2-2.

D Johnny Oduya

Oduya’s goal at the end of the first period finally put Dallas on the board. It was also his first game of the series and his first goal in 55 games.

Highlights

Certainly the real action of the game came from period three, in which the Stars rose from down 3-2 to ahead 4-3–and then with just over three minutes remaining in the third, Minnesota evened the score once more, sending the game into the series’s first OT.

First captain Jamie Benn returned to the spotlight after three quiet playoff games for goal two:

Just look at that beauty:

…But the Stars’s shining moment lasted a mere 50 seconds. Wild’s Nino Niederreiter, with the assistance of Jared Spurgeon and Jason Pominville, quickly got one right behind Niemi:

But no worries–Jason Spezza was ready to save the game for Dallas, getting yet another goal for the Stars. With his game-tying goal, Spezza increases his record to six goals in his last six games.

Then, just 28 seconds later, Goligoski added the go-ahead goal to the game with 11:04 left in regulation:

GGG (Goligoski go-ahead goal) pic.twitter.com/85Tn7Co0jR

— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 23, 2016

But Mikko Koivu wasn’t letting the Wild go down without a fight, adding a tying goal with less than three minutes remaining in the third period. And Devan Dubnyk, who stopped 37 shots throughout the game, was clearly happy about it:

Next Game

The series returns to Minnesota as the Stars try to win it all in Game 6 on Sunday, April 24 at 3:00 PM ET. You can watch on NBC and online with  NBC Sports Live Extra

For more coverage of the NHL Playoffs, make sure to check out our NHL hub page.