John Hynes’ immediate reaction to Wild’s Game 5 win vs. Stars

The Minnesota Wild haven’t advanced beyond the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2015, which was only three years into the tenures of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter with the franchise.

But thanks to their critical Game 5 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday evening, the Wild are now just a single win from the second round for the first time in 11 years. Forward Matt Boldy broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period for the Wild, who were paced by goals from Mats Zuccarello, Michael McCarron and Kirill Kaprizov; goaltender Jesper Wallstedt made 20 saves on 22 shots.

Immediately afterward, head coach John Hynes praised the poise of his club, noting that good things happen when the on-ice players function together as a five-man unit.

“I think when we play a tight, connected, five-man unit, we’re usually at our best,” Hynes said, via NHL.com. “I thought we were responsible, strong attention to detail, got some key saves when we needed them. Another game where we can continue to build and get better. You just focus day to day.

“We’ll take a lot of information out of this game and work to be better again in Game 6. That was our objective when the series started. Take one day at a time, one game at a time, extract the information that’s needed. Prepare ourselves for the next game and focus on that.”

Game 6 between the Wild and Stars is scheduled for Thursday evening at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. Should the Stars ultimately force a Game 7, it would be back in Texas on Saturday.

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