Wild eliminated due to struggles from Kaprizov, penalty kill

The Minnesota Wild were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round on Friday.

The Wild (46-25-11) finished third in the Central Division during the regular season. They have qualified for the playoffs in 10 of the past 11 seasons but have only advanced to the second round twice in that span (2014 and 2015, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks each season).

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents: Gustav Nyquist, F; Oskar Sundqvist, F; Ryan Reaves, F: Marcus Johansson, F; Matt Dumba, D; John Klingberg, D
Potential restricted free agents: Sam Steel, F; Brandon Duhaime, F; Mason Shaw, F; Calen Addison, D; Filip Gustavsson, G
Potential 2023 Draft picks: 6
Here are five reasons the Wild were eliminated:

1. Struggling penalty kill

This was the biggest culprit. The Wild were on the penalty kill 24 times during the series, allowing nine power-play goals. At 62.5 percent, Minnesota's penalty kill ranked 13th among playoff teams, ahead of only the Florida Panthers (60.9), Vegas Golden Knights (58.3) and Los Angeles Kings (42.9).
The Wild allowed at least two power-play goals in four of the six games. Tyler Seguin was especially difficult for them to stop, scoring four power-play goals in the series.
The penalty kill was an issue last postseason as well, when it was 69.2 percent in six games (13th).

2. Missing Eriksson Ek

Speaking of the penalty kill, it didn't help the Wild that they were without Joel Eriksson Ek, who is one of their best players in that department.
The forward missed the end of the regular season after blocking a shot from Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin off his foot on April 6. He tried to come back in Game 3, but after playing 19 seconds to open the game, he left again. That was it for Eriksson Ek, who had 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists) in 78 regular-season games, fourth on the Wild behind forwards Kirill Kaprizov (75 points), Mats Zuccarello (67) and Matt Boldy (63).
Eriksson Ek averaged 2:04 of short-handed ice time per game, fifth on the Wild behind defensemen Jared Spurgeon (2:57), Jonas Brodin (2:57) and Brock Faber (2:09), and forward Frederick Gaudreau (2:05).
He was greatly missed in this series.
RELATED: [Complete Stars vs. Wild series coverage]

3. Quiet Kaprizov

Kaprizov had one point, a goal, in six playoff games, and that goal came 48 seconds into Game 1.
It was a far cry from how the forward performed last season, when he had eight points (seven goals, one assist) in six playoff games against the St. Louis Blues in the first round.
Was Kaprizov, who missed a month late in the regular season with a lower-body injury, playing hurt? Asked that prior to Game 6, he said he was 100 percent. Either way, the Stars were good at taking away his time and space whenever possible, limiting him to 17 shots in the series (compared to 27 against the Blues). Kaprizov also missed a few golden scoring opportunities.

4. Couldn't contain Hintz

The Wild had a difficult time trying to keep Stars forward Roope Hintz off the score sheet. They succeeded in Game 3, when they held him to zero shots, but outside of that, Hintz had four multipoint games, including three games with at least three points.
Hintz leads all players with 12 points (five goals, seven assists), one ahead of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner. He was near impossible to contain with his combination of speed and skill.

5. Didn't solve Oettinger

This was especially a problem in the final two games, when Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was dialed in and there wasn't much the Wild could do about it. He saved all 27 shots he faced in a 4-0 win in Game 5 and just about shut out the Wild again in Game 6. Gaudreau prevented that with his goal at 12:53 of the third period of Minnesota's 4-1 loss. Oettinger had a 2.01 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in the series.