20/20: Wild continue to own 5-on-5 play and the Stars are on the ropes

Even strength play might be a focus for Dallas before Game 6.

The Minnesota Wild have put the Dallas Stars on the ropes, taking a 3-2 series lead after dominating even-strength play in a 4-2 victory in Game 5.

This is the 20/20.

1. Maybe Marcus Foligno was right.

If you’ll remember the aftermath of Game 2 of this series, the Wild forward said the Stars couldn’t hang with his team at 5-on-5.

And now the Stars are facing a must-win situation in Game 6 because they haven’t been able to generate nearly enough at even strength.

In Game 5, the Stars only mustered 16 shots at five-on-five, including a horrifically disappointing start to the third period, when they were trailing 2-1, without any shots in the first seven minutes of the final stanza.

2. That lack of even strength offense was so bad, that when Michael McCarron scored to make it 3-1, everyone in the building knew this game was over because there was no way the Stars would drag themselves back into this game at even strength.