Wild have 'businesslike' mentality in Game 3, take lead in West 1st Round

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Dean Evason saw his Minnesota Wild were in the perfect frame of mind entering Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars on Friday.

"We were very businesslike in the room, and they were just ready to play," Evason said following
a 5-1 win
at Xcel Energy Center. "It's such a big credit to, and I know it probably gets old when I talk about our leaders and whatever, but it's reality that the way that they conducted themselves and in preparation for this game and then executing on the ice is real good."
The win gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 4 is here Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; TBS, SN360, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, BSN, BSWI, BSSW).
Sure, credit goes to the leaders. For the Wild, however, it also goes to them getting back to a much cleaner, efficient and effective game after a forgettable, error-filled 7-3 loss in Game 2 on Wednesday.
Minnesota had just two giveaways in Game 3, compared to 15 in Game 2. The Wild were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, the first time they haven't allowed the Stars a power-play goal in the series.
"We only had a couple opportunities, and I think I wouldn't say we were kind of nonchalant in thinking we'd have a lot of chances like we had in past games, but we've just got to be focusing on the first one and not take it for granted, these opportunities, because you never know," Dallas forward Jason Robertson said. "We kind of took that for granted today and we'll be sharper for next game."
RELATED: [Complete Stars vs. Wild series coverage]
The Wild didn't allow any odd-man rushes either. They also stymied the Stars' top players. Dallas forward Roope Hintz, who had three goals and an assist in Game 2, did not have a shot on goal in 18:11 of ice time Friday.
Minnesota also got a boost from returning players. Forward Ryan Hartman, who missed Game 2 with a lower-body injury, played 18:02, scored an empty-net goal and had the primary assist on each of forward Mats Zuccarello's goals.
"Just go do it," Hartman said. "You can say it as much as you want, but you've got to actually go and get it done. We played heavy when we had to and when opportunities came for skill, you saw [Marcus Johansson's] goal, he's able to make plays, and he had another couple chances that hit the post. Just all around, I think it was a really good Minnesota Wild hockey game."

Defenseman John Klingberg made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut for the Wild against his former team after missing the first two games with a lower-body injury. He had 16:38 of ice time and the secondary assist on each of Zuccarello's goals.
Filip Gustavsson, who saved 51 shots in Game 1, his NHL playoff debut, stopped 23 in Game 3. He joked that it was "almost too quiet at sometimes" because the Wild limited the Stars' shots so well.
"We looked through the video this morning and we have some older guys, and everyone almost made mistakes in Game 2 and everyone knew it too," Gustavsson said. "You can feel when you do mistakes and cheating the game and we just looked through it just [as a] reminder.
"No one's mad at anyone or anything like that. It was more like, 'Yeah, we know we know this is not us, and then we said, 'Let's go out and show it tonight,' and that's what we did. They gave me a very easy job out there. I don't think they had a single odd-man rush or 2-on-1 or 3-on-2 or anything like that today. I think we had over 10 in Game 2, so that's such a big difference."
The Wild had a short memory following Game 2. A good talk, a few adjustments, a few key players returning.
It has them possessing a series lead heading into Sunday.
"We didn't play the way we wanted to last game, but we know how we wanted to play, and we talked about it and we went over it and we were prepared to play the right way tonight when the puck dropped," Zuccarello said.
"We got away from a little bit last game, but that's sometimes how it goes. There are momentum swings and everything in a series. We were ready and we played the right way for 60 minutes tonight, which is how we want to play."