Jason Spezza scored the go-ahead goal with his skate, Ales Hemsky and Patrick Eaves scored on second-period power plays to give Dallas’ lagging special teams a lift, and the Stars defeated host Minnesota 3-2 on Wednesday night to push their series lead to 3-1.
Jason Pominville and Charlie Coyle gave the Wild the lead with second-period goals, but they weren’t able to sustain the momentum from a spirited comeback in Game 3.
The Wild finished the game with a 6-on-4 after a high-stick penalty on Antoine Roussel with goalie Devan Dubnyk pulled, but the Stars allowed only one shot on target over the 84-second two-man advantage.
Michal Neuvirth stopped 31 shots in his first start of the series, helping host Philadelphia stave off a sweep.
Teddy Purcell also scored for Florida, and Jaromir Jagr had an assist for his 200th career playoff point.
The NHL suspended Chicago forward Andrew Shaw for one game for yelling an antigay slur from the penalty box during Tuesday’s game and fined him $5,000 for an inappropriate gesture toward the officials during the Blackhawks’ loss to the St. Louis Blues.
