The Dallas Stars beat the Minnesota Wild in game 4 of the playoffs. The special teams were the story of the night as Dallas went 2/2 on the powerplay and Minnesota went 0/2. Antti Niemi got his first start of the playoffs and had a strong night stopping 28 out of 30 shots. Jason Spezza had the game winning goal on the night and also picked up an assist in the game as well. Jason Pominville found the net in a losing effort, he now has 3 goals in the past 2 games. 
The first period saw Minnesota trying to capitalize on the momentum from Game 3. They got an early power play chance that didn’t lead to anything Antti Niemi couldn’t turn aside. It was a typical playoff game, as the physical play was very apparent. The period finished goalless with Dallas having a slight advantage on shots 10-9.
The 2nd period saw Minnesota break the scoreless game when Jason Pominville scored his 3rd of the playoffs off a rebound. Nino Niederreiter and Erik Haula picked up assists on the goal. Ales Hemsky was able to draw the Stars level on the power play. Hemksy hammered a slap shot by Dubnyk to score his first playoff goal since 2006, and Jason Demers and Kris Russell picked up the assist on the power play goal. The game didn’t stay level for long as Charlie Coyle scored on a breakaway a minute later. Niemi was in a bad positon on this goal and Coyle found the empty net on the backhand.
Dallas had another answer on the power play when Patrick Eaves picked up his second of the playoffs off a Kris Russell shot. Russell and Jason Spezza registered the assists on the goal and this seemed to spark Spezza. With a minute left in the period, Spezza deflected the puck off his skate by Dubnyk for the Stars’ first lead of the game. Jason Demers picked up his second assist of the night, with Jamie Benn picking up the other assist for his first point of the night. 
The 3rd period saw Minnesota trying to level the game on an all-out attack. Dallas had changed their game plan as well as they were just trying to get the puck deep in the offensive zone to kill time. Minnesota was pushing hard for the goal to bring them level and like usual they began double shifting Ryan Suter in hope he could spark the team. As the game went on eventually Minnesota had no choice but to pull Dubnyk for the extra attacker. To make matters worse for the Stars, Antonie Roussel took a 4 minute minor for high sticking. Dallas was luckily able to see of the final minute and half with a 6-4 situation. Thus giving Dallas a 3-1 lead in the series.
The next game will be Friday at 9:30 back in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center. Dallas has the chance to finish the series on home ice.
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