Yardbarker
x
Stars bounce back vs. Wild behind Roope Hintz's hat trick
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Roope Hintz had three goals and an assist to help the Dallas Stars even their Western Conference first-round playoff series against the visiting Minnesota Wild with a 7-3 win in Game 2 on Wednesday.

Game 3 is Friday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Dallas' Evgenii Dadonov scored two goals, Jamie Benn logged a goal and an assist, Tyler Seguin also scored and Miro Heiskanen set a Dallas playoff record with four assists. Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the Stars, who went 3-for-6 on power plays and are 5-for-11 with a man advantage in the series.

Oskar Sundqvist, Marcus Johansson and Frederick Gaudreau scored for the Wild. Minnesota opted to start Marc-Andre Fleury in goal, and the 19-year veteran finished with 24 saves.

Filip Gustavsson made 51 saves for the Wild in their 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 1 on Monday.

Hintz scored on a short-handed breakaway to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at 3:38 of the first period.

Tyler Seguin tipped in a slap shot with 30 seconds left on a four-minute high-sticking penalty to extend the lead to 2-0 at 11:20 of the first.

Sundqvist was credited with a goal after a rebound went off his skate and into the Dallas net to cut the gap to 2-1 with 3:49 remaining in the opening period.

The Stars stretched their lead to three when Benn scored on a power play to make it 3-1 at 4:07 of the second period. Dadonov followed with a goal at 5:34 to make it 4-1.

Minnesota answered with two goals 11 seconds apart, the fastest in team history for a playoff game, quickly trimming the lead to one.

Johansson's power play goal cut the deficit to 4-2 on a power play at 11:54, and Gaudreau got loose off the ensuing faceoff and scored to make it 4-3 at 12:05.

The Stars came back with two quick goals of their own later in the period to re-establish a three-goal lead.

Dadonov scored his second goal at 16:08 to make it 5-3, and Hintz matched him with his second at 16:56 for a 6-3 lead.

Hintz completed the hat trick with another power-play goal for a 7-3 lead at 12:16 of the third period.

This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.