from John Shipley of the PioneerPress,

There is no question the on-ice officiating crew at Xcel Energy Center called Game 4 of the Wild’s best-of-seven series against Dallas differently than they called the first three games.

Remember when Matt Dumba sent Joe Pavelski to the doctor in Game 1? The Wild defenseman got a head of steam on the veteran center and sent him tail over teakettle. Pavelski hasn’t played since, and while Dumba was assessed 2 minutes for roughing, that hit seems like a lot more than a week ago after Sunday.

For the on-ice crew, and maybe the suits in New York and Toronto, this became a different series on Sunday and it favored the Stars, who escaped the X with a 3-2 victory and sent the best-of-seven series back to Texas tied 2-2.

“I just feel like it’s a little bit chintzy right now. It doesn’t make any sense,” Wild winger Marcus Foligno said. “This is playoff hockey. You go and hit a guy and it’s not illegal. It’s clean and you’re getting called to the penalty box.”

Stars coach Peter DeBoer made a few headlines after his team’s 7-3 victory in Game 2 at Americans Airlines center by making it a point to mention the Wild’s proclivity for penalties — sixth in NHL during the regular season — and trying to set a tone for the officiating. Wild coach Dean Evason countered that Dallas was taking dives but that didn’t have any legs.

“I don’t know,” Foligno said. “I think in that sense maybe they got to (the refs) before we did.”

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