Stars bid to rebound from ‘learning experience’ in clash vs. Wild

After seeing their seven-game winning streak snapped, the Dallas Stars will look to regain their footing on Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul, Minn.

The Stars (50-22-4, 104 points) are looking rebound after dropping a 5-3 decision at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon. Dallas resides four points behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division.

“We left some good players in some really good spots, and they capitalized on it,” goaltender Casey DeSmith said. “We’re trying to catch Winnipeg and they don’t lose a lot of games. So every loss we have, it stings a little bit more. This late in the year, we don’t have a lot of time left to catch them. Hopefully it’s a learning experience. Just get better holding onto leads going into playoffs.”

Evgenii Dadonov recorded his second career hat trick to account for all three of the Stars’ goals and DeSmith made 35 saves.

The Penguins broke a 3-3 tie with 1:43 left on Blake Lizotte’s goal after Dallas defensemen Thomas Harley and Cody Ceci collided in their own zone.

“That one hurt. For (DeSmith) to play such an unbelievable game and to give it away the way I did, it’s tough,” Harley said. “I tried to outskate their F1, he kind of got a body on me. Lost the puck, as I was just going to take it and regroup. Then me and Ceci ran into each other. Lack of communication on that one, and then I go and play the 2-on-1 (poorly). My job is to take away the pass and I let him have it.”

The Wild (41-29-7, 89 points) return home after a winless three-game road trip (0-1-2). They have lost four straight overall after a 3-1 setback to the host New York Islanders on Friday night.

Minnesota is clinging to the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

“We go on this road trip and we don’t win a game,” Wild head coach John Hynes said. “We go to a shootout and we go to overtime. … I think guys should be disappointed in the urgency, the competitiveness, the execution, and the energy to play in a game like this.

“I mean, let’s not talk about being in the funk and feeling sorry for ourselves. This was a game that we knew coming in that we had four out of six points (on the trip with a win). We didn’t have the required intensity level, attention to detail, so there’s no reason to feel sorry for ourselves. We didn’t play the game we needed to play to win.”

Mats Zuccarello gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead 1:42 into the second period before the Islanders answered 36 seconds later. New York led 2-1 under two minutes later.

“I don’t really have much to say,” Zuccarello said. “I’m so sick and tired of standing here and telling you guys this and that. I’m sorry but it’s just not good enough … it (stinks) that they score right away.”

Wild defenseman Jake Middleton left the game after being sent into the boards by New York’s Bo Horvat with 8:56 left in the second period and did not return.

–Field Level Media