Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 4.20.26
Loons beat Portland 2-0. They’ve lost just twice in eight games and visit Dallas on Wednesday.
Frost lost 2-0 to Toronto at home yesterday. Two games left, and Minnesota has been locked into the No. 3 seed for quite some time. Either Montreal or Boston will win the league and get to pick their first-round opponent. They’d be idiots to pick the two-time defending champ Frost over the fourth-place team.
NFL Draft week is upon us. The Vikings pick 18th.
Couple Games 2s tonight of local interest…
Wild Blows Out Stars in Game 1
The Wild spent three months chasing home ice in the first round, and it took them less than three hours on Saturday to wrest home ice from the Stars.
Minnesota absolutely buried the Stars 6-1 on Saturday in Dallas, getting two goals and an assist each from Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek. Jesper Wallstedt did in fact start Game 1, and his 27 saves are easy to get lost in the offensive performance.
The Wild has a chance to do something for the first time ever tonight - take a 2-0 series lead. Now, Minnesota rarely has home ice (just twice in franchise history), but it’s still hard to believe they’ve never led 2-0.
Minnesota has actually led in each of its last five first-round exits - three when the Wild led 1-0.
Here’s the thing - Dallas is going to be a whole lot better in Game 2. I’m not sure the Wild can be much better tonight. I don’t think Game 1 will be the only time a road team wins, so there’s a lot of series left.
Jake Oettinger, yanked from the post-season in 2025 by Peter DeBoer, was below average and those questions are going to get a little louder.
Game 3 is Wednesday at the Grand Casino Arena.
Wolves No Match for Nuggets in Game 1
The Wolves have some soul searching to do after a 116-105 loss to Denver in Game 1 on Saturday afternoon. Minnesota led by 10 after a quarter, but there was no doubt the Nuggets were the better team en route to their 13th straight victory.
I expected Minnesota to be rusty, having rested regulars and nursed injured players down the stretch while Denver was full boar to get the No. 3 seed. But the Wolves just weren’t good enough after their explosive start.
Julius Randle didn’t hustle on a couple plays down the stretch. Naz Reid scored just five points in 17 minutes off the bench. Anthony Edwards, who three years ago we were ready to claim as the next Jordan, missed 12 field goals including seven 3-pointers en route to a pedestrian 22-point performance.
You’ve got to talk about the free throw discrepancy, of course. But that’s nothing new to the Wolves, who don’t have the respect of the officials, ever. But they do whine a lot. Jamal Murray (speaking of whiney) made 16-of-16 free throws as the Nuggets outscored the Wolves 30-14 from the line.
Chris Finch talked about being composed, and if I had a wooden nickel for each time I’ve heard that…The Wolves bench was such a big part of their play down the stretch, but the stage looked really big for guys like Bones Hyland.
Twins Swept by Reds
The Twins were swept at home by the Reds, extending their losing streak to four games after winning eight of 10. Minnesota sits at 11-11 heading into a series at the Mets on Tuesday.
It was a lost weekend for the Twins. As The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman points out, Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, and Bailey Ober allowed three earned runs in 18 1/3 innings for a combined 1.47 ERA. but offensively, the Twins went just 6-for-35 (.171) with runners in scoring position.
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