Wild can't generate offensive spark in 4-1 loss to Dallas Stars

DALLAS — The Wild finally weren't regulars to the penalty box, but better discipline didn't cure their scoring woes.

In another tepid display by their offense, the Wild were stymied 4-1 by the Stars on Wednesday in front of 18,274 at American Airlines Center to get swept on their two-game road trip out of the All-Star break.

This result didn't help the team get any closer to Dallas, which extended its lead atop the Central Division and is now a whopping 12 points ahead of the Wild.

But the bigger cause for concern is how this slide has muddled the playoff race behind the Wild: They remain even with Colorado at 58 points, but the Avalanche bumped the Wild from the third seed to the final wild card spot in the Western Conference because they've played one fewer game. Another wild card candidate Calgary also has 58 points, and Nashville isn't too far away with 54.

What's more, on deck is a rigorous homestand that starts Thursday against Vegas.

Lakeville's Jake Oettinger improved to 4-0 in his career against the Wild while making 39 saves.

In front of Oettinger was an opportunistic Stars offense that required fewer goals than they actually recorded.

That's because of the funk that's impeded the Wild's scoring ability. Not only do they have the fewest goals at 5-on-5 over the last month in the NHL, but they were limited to two or less for the seventh time since they were shut out Jan. 8 by St. Louis (a span of 12 games).

Cognizant of this issue, the Wild scrambled their lines, reuniting last season's top trio of Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello and putting Marcus Foligno back with Jordan Greenway and Joel Eriksson Ek.

But the tweaks didn't ignite the offense.

Instead, the Wild very much looked like a team feeling its swoon: This was the Wild's fifth loss in their last seven games.

Still, they were even with Dallas after the first period when Filip Gustavsson, in his first start since Jan. 21, racked up 14 saves of his 33 total saves.

But the Wild began to unravel in the second.

Only 23 seconds into the period, Jamie Benn got behind the Wild to tuck the puck by Gustavsson. Then at 5:40, the Stars doubled their lead when Radek Faksa finished off a 2-on-1 pass from Tyler Seguin.

By 10:54, Dallas tacked on a third goal, a deflection by Jani Hakanpaa off a Roope Hintz shot.

With 1:44 to go in the second, the Wild ruined Oettinger's shutout bid on the power play when Kaprizov directed the puck to Eriksson Ek in front of the net for a slam-dunk redirect that rang up as Eriksson Ek's 19 goal of the season. Eriksson Ek's 19 points on the power play matched his career high set last season, and the assist pushed Kaprizov's point streak to seven games; he has nine points during this run.

The Wild did capitalize again before the period ended when Hartman sent the puck behind Oettinger, but the goal was waved off because of goaltender interference; Greenway was in the paint.

Overall, the Wild finished 1-for-3 on the power play while the Stars went 0-for-1, this after the Wild committed six penalties in the 3-2 letdown Monday at Arizona.

DALLAS – The Wild filed off the ice and into a team meeting.Despite cutting back on their penalties and hurling nearly 40 shots on net, they still lost and the repercussions were grim.

"We don't want to wait until there's a bigger wake-up call," Marcus Foligno said. "The wake-up call's now, and we just need to start winning."Falling 4-1 to the Stars on Wednesday in front of 18,274 at American Airlines Center caused the Wild to get swept on their two-game road trip out of the All-Star break and demoted them from third place in the Central Division to the last available wild card seed in the Western Conference.

Considering they've now dropped five of their last seven games, that's a dicey spot to be in with a rigorous seven-game homestand beginning Thursday against the Golden Knights."It wasn't a yelling meeting but understanding what's at stake here," Foligno said. "We gotta get some wins going. It's not like we're trying to put pressure on ourselves; there's pressure already there.

"It's more just about being an accountable group and just understand that this is a homestand that we have on the schedule coming up that we really need to take advantage of."Lakeville's Jake Oettinger improved to 4-0 in his career against the Wild while making 38 saves, a workload indicative of how desperate the Wild are to score but also how unsuccessful their efforts have been — especially at 5-on-5.

Their lone tally came on the power play with 1 minute, 44 seconds left in the second period, a redirect by Joel Eriksson Ek off a pass from Kirill Kaprizov that sealed Eriksson Ek's 19th goal of the season and extended Kaprizov's point streak to seven games.But by then, the Wild were already stuck in a deficit they wouldn't climb out of after Dallas had racked up three in a row earlier in the period: Jamie Benn got behind the Wild just 23 seconds into the second before Radek Faksa finished off a 2-on-1 at 5:40 and then Jani Hakanpaa converted on a deflection just 54 seconds past the midway point.

"Three real bad mistakes to give a breakaway then two 2-on-1s," coach Dean Evason said. "The margin of error is small when you're not scoring, and at this moment we're not. So, an error quickly ends up in our net and it's such an uphill battle for us."Filip Gustavsson, who was making his first start since Jan. 21, ended up with 33 saves, including a penalty shot from Faksa in the third. The Stars' fourth goal was an empty-netter by Roope Hintz with 2:11 left in the third period.

"We need myself and just a few others that have chipped in before to get going," Foligno said.

The Wild did have one puck at even strength tumble into the net, a shot by Ryan Hartman late in the second, but the goal was waived off due to goaltender interference by Jordan Greenway.

"Just unfortunate that didn't go the other way," Matt Dumba said. "That puts us at 3-2, and we're in a totally different spot."

It was another shoulda, coulda, woulda when the Wild can't afford anymore.

Although they remain even with Colorado at 58 points, the Avalanche bumped the Wild from the third seed because they've played one fewer game. Another wild card candidate, Calgary, also has 58 points, and Nashville isn't too far away with 54."We know we're not in that third spot anymore," Jake Middleton said, "and the coming weeks are pretty important."

Still, there was some improvement in their game. While the Wild's power play went 1-for-3, the Stars blanked on their lone look in a much more disciplined display by the Wild after they committed six penalties in the 3-2 loss at Arizona on Monday.

But the Wild need even more progress to prevent a sustained slide down the standings."This is just a bump along the road," Dumba said. "We gotta bunch of character guys in here, and I know we'll come out of this stronger."