Less than five minutes into Game 3, the Minnesota Wild faced two separate 2-0 deficits.
The scenario unfolded after the Dallas Stars - who won the first two games of the series on home ice - jumped out to an early lead in Game 3 thanks to goals off the stick of Patrick Sharp.
It would have been very easy, then, to allow doubt to creep in, as admitted by winger Jason Pominville.
Jason Pominville said, "We could have easily folded" after their poor start. #MNWild
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) April 19, 2016
That the Wild did not do, thanks in part to a pair of goals for Pominville.
For Erik Haula, who also recorded a goal, it speaks to the character the roster, or what's left of it in light of injuries to Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek.
Haula: "We had to regroup and get a couple back. Great effort by everybody. Tough start, but it shows a lot about our team to come back."
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 19, 2016
Whether the Wild can feed off this momentum or are just delaying the inevitable remains to be seen.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.