Ryan S. Clark
Multiple Authors
DALLAS — The Minnesota Wild are now one win away from advancing to the second round for the first time in more than a decade.
And they’re in that position after suffocating one of the NHL’s best attacks in a 4-2 win Tuesday against the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.
The series resumes Thursday in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the Wild will have the first of two attempts to capture a playoff series since they last did it in 2015 when they beat the St. Louis Blues in six games before losing in the second round to the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I think it’s the guys we have in here now,” said Wild forward Marcus Foligno, who has been with the franchise since 2017. “I think it’s a little bit different. I think we have a lot of leadership and guys that are experienced. You get a guy like Michael McCarron tonight that steps up. Our penalty kill does the job and the goaltending. I just think that there’s always been someone every night that’s stepped up to help this team.”
Opening the series with a 6-1 win was immense for a few reasons. It gave the Wild the upper hand and their first Game 1 playoff series since 2023. Furthermore, it also showed that the Wild could generate and capitalize on scoring chances, a sign of growth from a team that had previously struggled to do both in previous playoff trips.
The way they stuck with the Stars, who have reached three straight Western Conference finals, in consecutive overtime contests in Games 3 and 4 also reinforced how comfortable they performed in tight situations.
What they accomplished Tuesday is just the latest example of how this iteration of the Wild appears to be quite different compared to previous versions. Their aggressive backcheck and oppressive forecheck saw them find multiple ways to frustrate a Stars’ attack that finished the regular season in the top 10 in goals per game.
Altogether, the Wild are now a game away from the second round while also raising questions about if they are serious about possibly challenge the power dynamic in the West.
“The players have made the decision that they care about, they understand what their assignments are and their attention to detail is strong on it,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Through the lineup, you look at [Kirill] Kaprizov and [Matt] Boldy, for example or [Quinn Hughes] where they’re offensive guys and you see that but their commitment to defend is as important to them as playing offense.”
Mats Zuccarello, who returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with an upper-body injury, got his team off to a quick start by scoring the opening goal a little more than four minutes into the first period. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger made the initial save but the rebound from that save made its way to an open Zuccarello.
The Stars drew level midway through the first when Miro Heiskanen scored on a power-play goal that ultimately became one of the few chances the Wild would allow.
Natural Stat Trick’s metrics showed that the Stars’ shot-share in 5-on-5 play was 61.18% which means they controlled possession. The disconnect, however, resided in the way the Wild consistently shadowed any Stars player that had the puck in addition to how they got in front of puck.
Just how effective were the Wild at getting in front of the puck? They finished with 26 blocked shots that complemented rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt finishing with 20 saves.
Dallas’ frustrations extended to taking another too many skaters penalty that led to Boldy firing a wrist shot for his fourth postseason goal and a 2-1 lead with 30.7 seconds left in the period.
Boldy’s late-period salvo, while it gave his team the lead, it wasn’t the most damning aspect of how the period closed for the Stars.
The Stars were trying to mount a comeback going into a third period that hadn’t seen them score a 5-on-5 goal in nearly 198 minutes.
“We’re comfortable at 5-on-5,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said. “They’re going to have pushes too. They’re going to have pushes where they dominate us 5-on-5. We have to battle those out and do what we do.”
McCarron, who the Wild acquired ahead of the trade deadline pushed the lead to 3-1 with 12:13 left in the third for a goal that would force Stars coach Glen Gulutzan to eventually take a more aggressive approach.
Gulutzan pulled Oettinger with around four minutes left to create a 6-on-5 that would see Jason Robertson trim the lead to 3-2 with 3:21 remaining.
The comeback attempt, however, was short-lived with Kaprizov fighting off Heiskanen for a loose puck that would see him score into an empty net to double the lead to 4-2 and be a win away from the second round.
Grabbing four goals against the Stars now means the Wild will enter Wednesday third in the NHL in goals per game this postseason. Allowing 2.60 goals per game means they are also a top-five unit when it comes to how their defensive structure has worked in tandem with Wallstedt.
It all adds up to the fact that the Wild have looked like one of the more complete teams in the NHL as they’re now beyond the midway point of the first round.
“I think we are trying to be in this position every year,” said Zuccarello, who has been with the Wild since 2019. “I think it’s important just to stay calm and don’t overthink it and don’t read whatever you guys have to say about how we haven’t got out of the first round in a couple years.
“It’s going to be some tough games coming up and these guys are going to be ready. … It’s not going to be easy.”
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