After a blowout win in Game 1, the Minnesota Wild have stalled out and are in danger of falling into a dangerous 3-1 hole in their series against the Stars. The Wild failed to muscle out a double overtime win, and part of that traces back to something that happened almost a week ago in Dallas.
Mats Zuccarello was taken out by a dirty hit from Tyler Myers, a play that was penalized at the time, but the Wild are still paying for. Zuccarello assisted on three of Minnesota's six goals in that opening game but he hasn't played a single minute in the series since Myers threw a cheap elbow to his head.
That play, and Zuccarello's absence, came back to bite the Wild in Game 3. He's been an instrumental piece of Minnesota's power play, especially when it comes to setting guys like Kirill Kaprizov up with scoring chances. It was a missing element in Game 2, and it's hard to believe the Wild wouldn't have won Game 3 if Zuccarello had been on the ice.
Wild desperately need Mats Zuccarello back in the lineup
Minnesota had eight power play opportunities in Game 3 but managed to only score on one of them. That's not the worst part of missing Zuccarello, though, as it's the overtime chances the Wild had that will haunt them.
The Wild had five power plays in the third period and overtime in Game 3 but frustratingly came away empty-handed each time. This is a trend that extends from Game 2, where the Wild went 0-for-4 on the power play. Had Zuccarello been on the ice for any of those helping to get some offensive flow going for any of those, the outcome likely would have looked a lot different.
It felt like Minnesota controlled the puck for the vast majority of overtime, but completely fizzled on the offensive end. This wasn't exclusive to the power play, as the Wild had 12 shots in the first overtime and four in the second; it's pretty impossible to believe that if Zuccarello was out there to help fascilitate some scoring chances for Kaprizov in particular that the game would have ended the way it did.
Not having him on the ice is actively holding Minnesota's offense back, and Game 3 was as stark an example of that as we've seen all series.
The Wild's usually lethal power play was lifeless when the team needed it the most, despite getting nearly every chance fans could have hoped for. Zuccarello scored 15 goals this season, but he racked up 39 assists and 54 points in 59 games, offense that could have come in handy especially when Minnesota was flying around with control of the puck for most of overtime on Wednesday.
Zuccarello was a gametime decision for Game 3 but was ultimately ruled out. The fact he wasn't outright taken off the board indicates he might be able to suit up for Minnesota in Game 4, and here's to hoping he does because the Wild desperately need him back in the lineup.
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