Written by Pat Iversen at SBNation.com
The Dallas Stars rode the weirdest goal in recent playoff memory to a 2-0 series lead over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Antoine Roussel’s first career playoff goal was the highlight as the Stars earned a 2-1 win on home ice. The series heads back to Minnesota for Game 3 on Monday night.
Both goalies were generally as solid as they were in Game 1. Devan Dubnyk put up 26 saves on 28 shots against in the loss while Kari Lehtonen won his eighth game in his last nine starts. Tyler Seguin returned to the Dallas lineup from an Achilles injury for the first time in a month but only registered one shot on goal with limited ice time.
Minnesota had two prime power play opportunities in the first period, but the Stars killed off both of them. The Wild are now 1-for-20 on the man advantage in their last ten periods. Missing injured top forwards Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek probably has something to do with that.
Dallas finally got on the board in the second period, but it was the strangest score of the playoffs so far. The puck came to Antoine Roussel behind the Wild net, and he seemed to kick it over the net and onto Dubnyk’s shoulder. It then slipped in the net as Dubnyk pushed the net off its moorings, trying to keep it out.
Dallas rode the momentum of that goal through the third period, when two Wild defensemen pinched and let Jamie Benn skate away with a breakaway goal and a 2-0 lead.
The Wild were headed to their first consecutive playoff shutout losses since 2003 until Marco Scandella scored their first goal of the series at 12:42 of the third.
Minnesota hurt themselves with a penalty late in the third, and the Stars used the delayed penalty to kill off about a minute of the clock.
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