The last time the Stars-Wild series shifted venues, they were headed to Minnesota with the Stars up 2-0, and fully expecting a desperate Wild team to give them all they could handle. The Wild did that and more, winning Game 3 by a final of 5-3 to draw the series to 2-1, Stars.
This time, they’re headed back to Dallas, the Stars up 3-1 and fully expecting another desperate performance from the Wild. In Game 5, unlike Game 3, Minnesota will be without the energy of their home crowd, but their backs are even more firmly against the wall now than they were on Wednesday, and the Stars appreciate that.
“The last game is always the hardest,” Stars defenseman Jason Demers said, per Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. “We’ve got them backed into a corner now, they are must-win. It’s the same thing for us. We’ve got to win this game, because we don’t want to go back there.”
On Friday, the Stars can clinch a postseason series victory on home ice for the first time since 2008, and that’d be nice for the fans at the American Airlines Center. But as Demers said, they also don’t have any desire to play another game in Minnesota.
“We don’t want to mess around at all,” winger Patrick Eaves said. “This is not a time to take our foot off the gas. We’ve got to really push for the win (Friday).”
