Five Wild vs. Stars quick hits: Snipers not sniping, face-off failures and a look at Game 6

Only five days ago, the Wild were basking in the glory of a 5-1 Game 3 rout of Dallas for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven first-round NHL playoff series. The script, however, has flipped quickly with the Stars winning 3-2 on Sunday and 4-0 on Tuesday in Game 5. Suddenly, the Wild has been pushed to the precipice of elimination.

Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's game, with the Wild needing to win Game 6 in St. Paul on Friday and Game 7 in Dallas on Sunday to advance to the second round for the first time since 2015:

1. Win a draw, score a goal

The formula has worked perfectly for the Stars against the Wild: Win a power-play faceoff and watch the puck quickly end up in the back of Minnesota's net.

For the third time in five games, the Stars scored a power-play goal less than 10 seconds after the man advantage began, and they got it started by winning a faceoff.

Entering the game, the Stars had won 17 of 24 power-play faceoffs in the series, their 70.8% success ranking second in the NHL. In the first period Tuesday, Dallas won three of five power-play faceoffs, and two resulted in goals.

The Wild's Marcus Foligno was called for kneeing Radek Faksa 2:14 into the first period, drawing a five-minute major and then a game misconduct after a video review. The Stars needed only 8 seconds to take a 1-0 lead, with Jamie Benn winning the faceoff and Tyler Seguin scoring his fourth power-play goal of the series, batting in a rebound of a Jason Robertson shot past Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson.

"We were immediately into the game, and we wanted to set the tone,'' Robertson told reporters in Dallas. "We got the goal 8 seconds in [on the power play], and were able to do that.''

The goal was reminiscent of two from Game 1 on April 17, when Benn won a draw back to Roope Hintz, who beat Gustavsson only 3 seconds into the second-period power play. Later in that period, Robertson scored 6 seconds after a power play began, with Joe Pavelski winning the faceoff.

Tuesday's opening goal was Dallas' eighth power-play marker of the series. The Stars wouldn't be done, though. At 10:47 of the first, though, the Stars got their second power play when Jake Middleton was called for cross-checking. Seventeen seconds after a faceoff win by Wyatt Johnston, Robertson beat Gustavsson for a 2-0 lead.

For the game, the Stars won eight of 11 power-play faceoffs.

"We didn't have our best stuff, obviously, tonight,'' Wild coach Dean Evason said.

2. Wild power play goes dry

While Dallas scored a pair of power-play goals and is 9-for-22 (40.1%) with the man advantage this postseason, the Wild didn't score on the power play for the first time in the five games.

Minnesota went 0-for-3 on the power play Tuesday, with all three chances coming in the second period, when the Wild was trying to back into the game. Instead, they couldn't beat goalie Jake Oettinger on six shots on goal.

Minnesota is 4-for-20 with the man advantage in the series, while Dallas has scored multiple power-play goals in four of the five games.

"We feel like we're playing pretty good five-on-five, but it's the special teams that's got to be better,'' Wild defenseman John Klingberg said in a postgame interview on Bally Sports North.

3. Snipers not sniping for the Wild

Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy combined for 71 goals in the regular season. Through five games against Dallas, Kaprizov has one goal, a power-play marker in Game 1, while Boldy is goal-less.

Tuesday, neither could get their offense going when the Wild needed them. Through two periods with the Wild trying to rally from a 3-0 deficit, Kaprizov and Boldy each had only one shot on goal. Boldy would put one shot on goal in the third period, Kaprizov none. Kaprizov had a minus-2 rating, while Boldy was a minus-1.

"They had a few looks tonight,'' Evason said of Kaprizov and Boldy. "We have no doubt that our group, and those guys in particular, will show up in Game 6.''

4. Oettinger sharp again

Oettinger followed up his 32-save effort in a 3-2 in Game 4 on Sunday night by making 27 saves and posting his second career playoff shutout Tuesday. Staked to a 2-0 lead after one period and a 3-0 bulge 1:19 into the second period, the Lakeville native was calm throughout and faced few high-danger chances as his defenders kept the Wild mainly to the perimeter.

"He sure doesn't look like a 24-year-old goalie,'' Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "He's doing some special things for being at the stage of his career that he's at.''

5. Looking ahead to Game 6

With the loss, the Wild dropped to 5-9 all-time in Game 5. In the four playoff series they have won, they prevailed in Game 5 in three of them: at Colorado and at Vancouver in 2003, and at St. Louis in 2015. In 2014, they lost Game 5 at Colorado but won the next two to claim the series.

The series returns to St. Paul for Game 6 on Friday. Minnesota is 5-4 all-time in Game 6, with wins over Colorado and Vancouver in 2003 and Colorado in 2014, forcing Game 7s that the Wild would win. Their Game 6 win over St. Louis in 2015 secured a 4-2 series triumph.

"We expect our group to be excited, jacked to get home,'' Evason said. "Win one game and see what happens in 7.''

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.