By Canadian Press

Seguin, Stars take 3-2 series lead with 4-0 win over Wild

Apr 25, 2023 | 8:10 PM

DALLAS (AP) — Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson each had a power-play goal and an assist, Roope Hintz had three assists for the second straight game and the Dallas Stars took the series lead over the Minnesota Wild for the first time with a 4-0 win in Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Jake Oettinger had 27 saves in his second career playoff shutout. That included the 24-year-old goalie stopping nine shots when the Wild had back-to-back power plays in quick succession in the second period.

Seguin’s fourth power-play goal of the series came only 2:22 into the game, eight seconds after Wild forward Marcus Foligno’s five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for a knee-on-knee hit on Radek Faksa.

Mason Marchment scored early in the second period and Ty Dellandrea added an empty-netter with 3:57 left.

The Stars will try to close out the first-round playoff series Friday night in Game 6 at Minnesota, where the home team will be trying to avoid another opening-round defeat. The seventh game, if needed, would be Sunday in Dallas. 

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Faksa remained face down on the ice after the collision with Foligno near the blue line, which came right after the Stars centre had knocked the puck out of the air with his hand. Faksa had to be helped off the ice once he got up, but returned to the game midway through the first period.

The major penalty was upheld and the game misconduct issued after officials reviewed the play.

Seguin put Dallas ahead to stay with his second-effort tally on the rebound of a shot by Robertson, who then made it 2-0 midway through the first on his 35-foot wrister through the legs of Filip Gustavsson. It was the second goal and fourth assist of the series for Robertson, who became the first 100-point scorer for Dallas this season. 

Gustavsson, Minnesota’s 24-year-old goalie, has started the last three games since three-time Stanley Cup champion Marc-Andre Fleury was in net for Game 2 when Dallas evened the series with a 7-3 win. Gustavsson stopped 21 shots Tuesday. 

With Joe Pavelski in concussion protocol since Game 1, Seguin has moved up to the top line with Robertson and Hintz, and had a bigger role on the power play. Seguin, who played in his 100th career playoff game, is the only Stars player with a Stanley Cup title — that was as a 19-year-old rookie with Boston in 2011.

The now 31-year-old Seguin is the first player in Stars franchise history with four power-play goals in a single playoff series. The last time a Dallas player had as many in a playoff year was in 2008, when Mike Modano had five and Brenden Morrow 4.

Seguin had two power-play goals in the Stars’ 3-2 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night that evened the series. Both of those also came after Foligno penalties.

Hintz also scored a goal in the series opener, then had a hat trick with an assist in Game 2. His 11 points (four goals, seven assists) are the most in a single playoff series for Dallas, his assist on Marchment’s goal snapping his tie with Mike Modano, Sergei Zubov and Jamie Benn. 

Dallas has nine power-play goals in the series. 

Minnesota was 0-for-3 with the man-advantage in Game 5, with all of its power plays in the second period. The Wild didn’t even get a shot on goal on the last one, when the Stars blocked four shots before they could get to the net.

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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press