Jake Oettinger allows 5 blocker-side goals in Wild series

jake oettinger has given the Minnesota Wild a clear target in this series. Five of the 10 goals Dallas has allowed to him have beaten him on the blocker side, and Minnesota goes into Game 4 down 2-1 after a double-overtime loss in Game 3.

Wild shots at Oettinger

The Wild have scored 10 goals in three games on Oettinger, and five of them have found the blocker side. Four of those five goals went in cleanly without a deflection, which gives Minnesota a repeatable shot location to keep testing.

Near the end of the regular season, NHL.com tracked 100 goals scored on him and found 25 at the high blocker area. Kevin Woodley noted that Oettinger’s very wide stance can make those shots harder for him to reach, and the series has shown that tendency again.

Dallas closes the middle

Minnesota still had to work for its chances. The Wild recorded just 31 shots through five periods of play in Game 1, and in Games 1 and 2 they struggled to get the puck to the middle of the ice.

Dallas tightened that lane even more in Game 3, when the Stars were significantly better at taking away the middle of the ice. That left Minnesota hunting for chances from the outside and turning repeated looks toward the blocker side into one of the few patterns that has consistently worked.

Series pressure on Minnesota

The scoreline now puts the Wild in a 2-1 hole with three games played. Oettinger has had strong stretches in the series and throughout his career, but Minnesota has already shown enough of a shooting pattern to keep forcing the issue until Dallas shuts it down.