
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Marcus Foligno, with a bloody gash on the front of his nose, kept yelling at referee Garrett Rank on his way to the penalty box late in Sunday’s game.
“F—— joke,” he said.
The Wild winger was still steaming as he sat down and continued.
“Where’s the f—— trip?”
It was hard for most to figure out how Foligno was called for tripping — in a one-goal game with five minutes to go — when he delivered a body check on Mason Marchment near the Stars bench. He couldn’t figure out why he was put in the box for interference late in the second period. Both didn’t look like penalties, yet both ended up costing the Wild on Stars power-play goals, the difference in Minnesota’s 3-2 loss at Xcel Energy Center.
Penalty? #mnwild pic.twitter.com/EyKMN4g9V7
— MN State of Hockey (@MinnesotaSOH) April 24, 2023
And after the game, Foligno voiced his frustration.
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“It’s a joke,” Foligno said of the penalties. “It doesn’t make any sense. I go to hit a guy who touches the puck, it’s interference. I go, get high-sticked in the face. It’s not a tripping call when you hit a guy clean on. It’s bulls—.”
The officiating has been a hot topic throughout this series, which is tied 2-2 heading into Tuesday’s Game 5 in Dallas. It started with Matt Dumba’s controversial hit in Game 1 on Joe Pavelski, which was initially called a five-minute major, then rescinded. As Stars coach Pete DeBoer continually reminds the media — and, in theory, the officials — that the Wild were one of the league’s most penalized teams, Wild coach Dean Evason quipped back about the Stars diving.
No matter how the games have been called — or what might happen the rest of the way — the bottom line is the Wild are in danger of letting struggling special teams let another series slip away. The penalty kill was a major culprit in last year’s swoon, blowing a 2-1 series lead to the Blues. The Stars are 7-for-16 on the power play through four games, and have a short-handed goal, while Minnesota’s flailing power play is 4-for-18.
The Wild have been a better team five-on-five, and they had plenty of chances in this one. Foligno had a breakaway and rebound opportunity. Kirill Kaprizov got stoned by Jake Oettinger on a breakaway and whiffed on a back-post loose puck on a second-period power play. Marcus Johansson, with eight seconds left, appeared to have an open net, but Oettinger slid over for a glove save.
“It starts with Jake and ends with Jake, especially tonight,” Stars center Tyler Seguin said. “He was phenomenal.”
Jake Oettinger with a big save to keep his team ahead late in regulation pic.twitter.com/y0IfvAyMPR
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 24, 2023
While Oettinger was terrific in Game 4 — the Lakeville, Minn., native heard some encouraging chants from hometown fans — the Wild didn’t get enough traffic, rebounds or chances in the “dirty areas.” That’ll be a focus going forward.
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“Honestly, we got a lot of unreal looks,” Foligno said. “I think we can get a little more of a better net-front presence in the sense of our all-around offensive zone play. But I got a breakaway. We got breakaways and two-on-ones galore and we’ve got to cash in.”
The Wild have talked about how much they learned from last spring’s collapse, and how they’re a much tougher and poised team this time around. They certainly showed their resolve in a double-overtime win in Game 1, and their resilient response in a Game 3 victory. And they played pretty well Sunday, too, coming out flying. They were winning puck battles, and creating looks, starting with Mats Zuccarello’s one-timer off the rush on their very first shift.
So while this is the fourth time the Wild have lost Game 4 after taking a 2-1 series lead, they don’t believe this is a continuation of the same trend. They battled back, pulling within 2-1 on John Klingberg’s goal and making it 3-2 on Freddy Gaudreau’s power-play tally with just over a minute left.
“Our game was really good,” Evason said. “If anything we should’ve scored, could’ve scored earlier. We had lots of good chances so we liked the way that we’re playing the game. Hard. Physical. Finishing our checks the right way. How playoff hockey should be played. It should be physical. It should be intense. It should be hitting hard. That’s what playoff hockey is. We were doing that.”
That especially included Foligno, a power forward who has been delivering big hits all series. It looked like he had another one with five minutes left in the second period, with Foligno hitting Jani Hakanpaa just after he had the puck behind the net. Evason quipped after the game, “I guess, if anything, he’s too strong.”
2 minutes for hitting pic.twitter.com/e0FJk0In04
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 24, 2023
Evason clearly didn’t like the calls but wasn’t about to trash the refs (and get fined).
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“Listen, everyone in the hockey world watched that game,” Evason said. “We all know what happened. I’m not going to comment on them. We have our opinions, but what’s the point? You can write about it and talk about it. There’s no point in whining about it now. They’re gone.”
The Wild will be gone from the playoffs soon if they don’t fix their penalty kill. The Stars’ first goal was a bit lucky, with a Roope Hintz deflection from the slot bouncing off Filip Gustavsson’s pad, then Jared Spurgeon, then Seguin in front. In fairness, it’s the kind of chance the Wild’s power play is lacking.
But the Stars’ second power-play goal, and eventual game winner, was clearly avoidable. Johansson lost his stick in a blue-line collision with Seguin but made the decision to initially try to go back for it before realizing it was a mistake. By then, Seguin cruised in alone in the slot for an easy finish.
You can survive in the playoffs with a struggling power play, but not with a porous penalty kill. Ask any coach who has gone on a deep Cup run.
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!@BudLight | #BudLightCelly | #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/4ytd6TDkjC
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) April 24, 2023
“You know, do we have to get better? I mean, for sure,” Evason said. “So we will.”
The Wild need more from their biggest stars. It’s this time of year when your best players need to be your best players. Kaprizov, an MVP-caliber winger, is clearly playing through pain after some heavy cross-checks by former Wild defenseman Ryan Suter early in the series.
Kaprizov had a golden opportunity eight minutes into the second period, still a 0-0 game. But the Russian tried to go five-hole on Oettinger, who made the key stop. Kaprizov, who had six goals against the Blues last year but just one in this series, had another power-play chance later.
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Matt Boldy, who finished the season on a hot streak, has just three assists and no goals.
And another big stop by Oettinger, this time on Kirill Kaprizov's breakaway try pic.twitter.com/XK4Z0rR9gm
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) April 23, 2023
Gustavsson got his second straight start after the Wild’s surprising decision to go to Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 2. He was solid overall, stopping 21 of 24 shots. The first goal was an unfortunate bounce, the third one was a great shot from the slot from Seguin on the power play.
The second one? Evgeni Dadonov jumped out of the box and went on a rush, taking advantage of a screen by Hintz to beat Gustavsson.
“He used our guys and their guys as a screen on the release and then he shot it back against the grain,” Gustavsson said. “I didn’t really pick it up on the release and if I don’t see, it’s hard to save it. I need to find it someway and find an eye on it so I can save it.”
The Wild think that if they keep playing like this, they’ll get rewarded. And, to a point, they’re right, as they are outscoring Dallas 8-5 at five-on-five, with a 61.4 Corsi-For Percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick. But as much as they believe they’ve been a better team five-on-five, they’ve got to finish. They’ll likely be without Joel Eriksson Ek, who didn’t play Game 4 after aggravating his lower-body injury at the start of Game 3, and it didn’t sound promising that he’s back anytime soon.
And they’re not going to change how they play based on the officiating Sunday.
“We’re not gonna stop playing hard just because of some calls,” Evason said. “That’s not right. You play the game hard, you play the game right. Play physical. That’s what you’re supposed to do, you’re supposed to finish your checks. It’d be more frustrating at this point if we were high-sticking and taking undisciplined penalties. Like, we’re not. It’s not, that’s not the situation. It’s just good, hard, physical hockey and we’ll continue to do that.”
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Foligno said he never got an explanation from the referees on the penalty calls — “No, arrogant” — but insinuated the talk about officiating from the Stars might be playing a role.
“I just feel like it’s a little bit chintzy right now,” Foligno said. “It doesn’t make any sense. This is playoff hockey. You go and hit a guy and it’s not illegal. It’s clean and you’re getting called to the penalty box. I don’t know. I think in that sense maybe (the Stars) got to them before we did.”
(Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn / NHLI via Getty Images)
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