Filip Gustavsson notched a shutout in his final warmup before the regular season begins on Thursday. Kirill Kaprizov potted a goal early in the 3rd and Mats Zuccarello notched two impressive assists. Oh, and Ryan Hartman got a postgame contract extension.

Related: Dean Evason Hot Seat Check: 6 Questions for Minnesota Wild Entering 2023-24

Minnesota Wild strong preseason overshadowed by 3rd period chaos

But things started to unravel on the ice, after Marco Rossi’s goal a bit later in the period, when Pat Maroon and Jamie Benn went toe-to-toe on the ensuing face-off.

Too much happening, Rossi pots one home, and Maroon takes on Benn. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/EieOADWHop

— Wild Takes (@WildTakes10k) October 8, 2023

Clearly, the Wild used this preseason game, not only to get their minds right for the regular season, but to exact revenge on a divisional rival who they lost an intense playoff series to last season.

And the crowd at the Xcel Energy Center was no different. When Benn was in the penalty box, after his fight with Maroon, a fan threw popcorn on his head and he lost his mind.

A fan just threw popcorn at Jamie Benn in the penalty box and now he's screaming at the fans. This is turning ugly

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 8, 2023

Brandon Duhaime vs Mason Marchment

If there was any question about their intent entering the final period, Brandon Duhaime put an end to that when he went begging for a fight with Mason Marchment, that he eventually got. When the dust settled on the scrum, Marchment got a 10-minute game misconduct and Duhaime got a 2-5-10 for instigating it.

Brandon Duhaime wants to go with Mason Marchment off the draw. Marchment says no. Duhaime hammers Dellandrea and eventually doesn't give Marchment the choice.

Absolute chaos pic.twitter.com/y0mW9LWWfj

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 8, 2023

Minnesota finishes their preseason 5-1-0 and, as noted earlier, will drop the puck on their regular season, Thursday, when they play the Florida Panthers in St. Paul.

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

I’m starting to get the vibe that the refs do not like Foligno…

5 minute major for this?#MinnesotaWild #mnwild #NHL #nhlplayoffs2023 pic.twitter.com/6iwEnqrStG

— Sammy Snipes (@Sammy_Snipes_) April 26, 2023

Same losing script for Wild vs Stars this series

The script was a lot like what we’ve seen during the other two Wild losses in this series. Dallas goalie and MN native, Jake Oettinger, was great again and the Stars scored two more power play goals, bringing their total to NINE power play goals in just FIVE games this series. Meanwhile, the Wild had a few more breakaways that were stonewalled by Oettinger and they failed to cash in on any of their three man advantage opportunities.

Sure, the Wild have been the better team during 5v5 but they’ve fallen devastatingly short on special teams, so far this series. Referees haven’t helped their cause much, either. Stars players have been taking “dives” throughout the series and the refs have, oftentimes, rewarded those European kickball tactics with power plays. It’s something Dean Evason and many Wild players have talked and complained about extensively since the end of game 1.

Dean Evason goes in on refs again

And after the loss on Tuesday, Evason went back to the well again, going at Stars players for diving and at refs because they continue to fall for said dives. He starts with the Foligno penalty and continues to list his grievances from there. The reporters, in turn, push for more. Evason happily gives them what they ask for.

Dean Evason addressed the media after the loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 5. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/rYVSNLIk4F

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 26, 2023

Reporter: Dean, your thoughts on the Foligno major? If you had to drop a worse way to start a game, that had to set you back for sure…

Dean: “[Foligno’s penalty and ejection] took some life out of us for sure. With everything that’s going on and all the whining and stuff about everything, we disagree with it. We don’t think he changed his path. He could have changed his path and probably stepped in hard. If anything, their guy changed the path. We watched it several times. [Foligno] does not move. Moose does not move. He doesn’t move his legs, nothing. He just stays straight, he braces himself. It’s incidental contact. Two big men and you know, if anything, we thought their guy moved and our guy did not.”

Reporter: If the calls are still going to go against you, how do you negate the impact that the Stars’ power play is having on this series?

Dean: “Well, we have to stay out of the box. Would we have liked a few more calls? We got a couple of diving calls against them which was maybe a little bit too late. We think there’s some of that going on. You know, we had two breakaways. We thought that, you know, both were penalties. [Sam Steel] gets chopped and and then Nyquist has one at the end and gets can opener.

I don’t know, it’s tough. Again, we don’t wanna whine but, you know, there’s calls out there. But, bottom line is we’ve got to find a way to stay out of the box and play within the whistles, which we are. But, you know, clearly they caught some breaks and, when I’m saying breaks, that’s not necessarily just goals. They caught some breaks throughout the entire game, different situations, and what have you, and we did not.”

At some point, you have to stop crying and play the hand that is dealt.

Look, I like Dean Evason and love the direction the Minnesota Wild are heading in, under his guidance and that of General Manager, Bill Guerin. In addition, his complaints are (mostly) justified. Foligno is getting called for a penalty just about every time he hits someone, at this point, and the hits he’s laying are legal. And it’s dumb that Stars players are being rewarded for a cowardice sports practice like diving.

But hello, your team is on the brink of elimination. Complaining about referee blindness or Dallas players continually flopping to the ice like a limit of crappies freshly pulled through a fishing hole, has done nothing to help the situation through five games. Stars players are still taking dives, Foligno is still getting called for stupid penalties and the refs still don’t care.

So, instead of hoping these blind zebras finally hear your complaints, it might be more worth your time to focus elsewhere. Control more of the things that you can actually control. Like, how to get a puck past Jake Oettinger, how to get Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy going, or even, how to be better on special teams.

#mnwild give up 2 more power-play goals (9 for the series) and go 0 for 3 on the power play as Jake Oettinger posts a 26-save shutout to give Dallas a 3-2 series' lead.

Wild have 3 times rallied from 3-2 series' deficits (2014, twice in 2003 when down 3-1).

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 26, 2023

Wild need to focus on controlling what they can control.

At this point, Dallas isn’t going to change their on-ice tactics, especially when those tactics are working. The refs are not going to change, either. Especially when, on paper, penalty calls do not look one-sided. The Wild have 20 power play opportunities to the Stars’ 22. The difference? Dallas is 9 for 22 (41%) and Minnesota is 4 for 20 (20%).

There are no losses left in this series for the Minnesota Wild. It’s win or go home. So, it’s time for Dean Evason to stop crying about what the opposing team is doing or not doing — or what the refs are calling vs not calling — so he can focus more on how to force a game 7 on Thursday night.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Joel Eriksson Ek a go for game 1?

Then, Dean Evason took to the press conference podium on Sunday and wouldn’t rule out Ek’s return for game one, which is on Monday. According to Joe Smith (The Athletic) JEEK skated for 45 minutes earlier in the morning with skating coach, Andy Ness, which is usually the last step an injured player takes before getting back into practice and, eventually, back to game action. Evason confirmed that Eriksson Ek is one of the few players who doesn’t need to practice in order to play, if cleared for action by doctors.

Joel Eriksson Ek skated for 45 minutes this morning with Andy Ness. Evason said Ek doesn’t need a practice to be ruled in if he and docs say he can go. Exception to their rule. So will be interesting to see if he’s in #mnwild.

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 16, 2023

If Joel Eriksson Ek is healthy enough to contribute to the Minnesota Wild lineup in a positive way then having him on the ice completely changes the dynamics of their 1st round series vs the Stars.

Even if he isn’t in the lineup for game 1, this news likely has the Dallas coaching staff scrambling a bit to make sure they have a plan of attack that includes Ek being on the ice, vs not. And Wild fans can take solace in knowing their favorite center will be back sooner than expected.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan