DALLAS — The Minnesota Wild have a long way to go to exorcise their first-round demons, and especially those in Dallas, where they historically struggle mightily. But if the Wild are going to advance to the second round for the first time in 11 years, Saturday’s series-opening 6-1 beatdown of the Dallas Stars is the template.
It was the Wild’s largest margin of victory in a playoff game since 2003, when they won 7-2 over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 5 of the second round.
Rookie Jesper Wallstedt, making his Stanley Cup playoffs debut after a gutsy decision by John Hynes and the coaching staff to sit veteran Filip Gustavsson, showed no nerves during a crisp performance. The Wild also helped him out, defending impeccably. They gave up one high-danger scoring chance in the first half of the game, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Minnesota scored two power-play goals, killed three, and all of the Wild’s big names showed up as they took a 1-0 series lead over their bitter rival from the south.
Joel Eriksson Ek, who missed all but one shift of the 2023 Wild-Stars series, scored twice on the power play. Kirill Kaprizov scored a goal and two assists. Matt Boldy scored two goals and had an assist. Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist. And Mats Zuccarello picked up the third three-assist game in Wild playoff history.
Now, the Wild have been in this position before. They’ve had a series lead at some point in their past five first-round exits. And the Stars, remember, were blown out in Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche last year and still ended up in their third straight conference final. They are 19-9 in series that they start as the home team since moving to Dallas from Minnesota in 1993-94.
But teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series own an all-time series record of 535-252 (.680).
Game 2 is in Dallas on Monday night before the series heads to Minnesota.
Wallstedt stands tall
The rookie certainly earned the start with his play down the stretch. And Wallstedt rewarded the coaching staff’s faith with a poised 26-save performance.
The Swede wasn’t tested a ton in the first half of the game, and the Wild gave him a 4-0 lead. But Wallstedt made some timely saves.
There were a few early, including on Miro Heiskanen and Mikko Rantanen rush chances in the first. But the biggest saves came late in the second, after the Stars had scored to make it 4-1. Wallstedt made a key stop on Jamie Benn following a Kaprizov turnover. And a few minutes later, he played a two-on-one perfectly, getting his glove on a shot by Wyatt Johnston.
Wallstedt had been the Wild’s hot hand down the stretch, allowing two goals or fewer in eight of his last nine regular-season starts. And with the way he played on Saturday, it’s hard to imagine Hynes going away from him for Monday’s Game 2. — Smith
Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello come through
The Wild have insisted that their perceived lack of a No. 1 center won’t deter them from going far in the playoffs because of play-driving wingers Kaprizov and Zuccarello.
That line connected twice at five-on-five in the first 3:28 of the first period.
After Zuccarello bumped the puck up to Hartman at the offensive blue line after a tremendous breakout by Brock Faber, Hartman crossed a pass to Kaprizov. Johnston and Rantanen got confused on the entry, leaving Thomas Harley hung out to dry, so Kaprizov had open ice to skate toward Jake Oettinger and sniped it for his 16th career playoff goal, tying Zach Parise’s team record.
Kaprizov’s 0.62 goals per game in his playoff career (16 goals in 26 games) rank sixth in Stanley Cup playoff history (minimum 10 games).
One shift later, Hartman, who ended the season on a heater with seven goals and 12 points in his final nine games, went to the backdoor and redirected Faber’s set-up for a 3-0 lead.
Boldy, who scored five goals last postseason, made it 4-0 for three goals in the first 6 ½ minutes of the second period. — Russo
Hughes arrives in style
There was a bit of fret from Wild fans over the past week with all-world defenseman Quinn Hughes not seen or heard from, with what Hynes called an illness.
He missed the last two games and didn’t skate in the morning on either of those days with the rest of the regulars scratched. He missed Thursday’s practice in St. Paul, Minn., and Friday’s in Dallas so he could get more rest and not potentially infect others, the Wild said.
But Hynes insisted that for a player who logged heavy minutes since coming to Minnesota and averaged 27:44 per game this season — more than a minute more than second-place Zach Werenski — this rest could be mentally and physically refreshing.
Well, Hughes arrived in Dallas on a private jet on Friday afternoon and logged 24:30 in Game 1, assisting on Hartman’s second-period goal. It was his 25th assist in 31 playoff games to tie Brian Leetch for the third-fewest games to hit the mark among defensemen in NHL history.
Hughes was plus-3.
An impressive performance for somebody who didn’t skate with the team since logging nearly 30 minutes against Nashville a week earlier. — Russo
He Otter be better
The last time Oettinger played in a playoff game, it went so poorly that Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer got himself fired over it. The Edmonton Oilers beat Oettinger on their first two shots of Game 5 of the Western Conference final, prompting DeBoer to pull his star goaltender after barely seven minutes, and then throw him under the bus in the postgame press conference.
So you have to wonder what was running through the head of DeBoer’s replacement — Glen Gulutzan — after the Wild beat Oettinger three times in the first 6:30 of the second period of Game 1 on Saturday night, putting Dallas in a stunning early 4-0 hole.
To be fair, it’s hard to lay that deficit exclusively at Oettinger’s feet. Eriksson Ek’s goals both came on the power play. Kaprizov’s goal was a high short-side snipe that only a handful of players in the world can make. Hartman scored on a deflection in front. And Boldy out-hustled and out-muscled Harley to a rebound on the left side of the goalmouth for his non-empty-netter.
Each can be explained away individually. But taken as a whole, it’s an alarming start for Oettinger, who is supposed to be the most obvious advantage Dallas has against a Wild team that chose a rookie to start because its veteran goalie was struggling so mightily.
Oettinger had a middling season, well below his usual standards. His .899 save percentage was the lowest of his career, though his goals-saved-above-expected was a solid 23.1, good enough for 17th in the league. But it’s likely going to take more than just one bad night for a true goalie controversy to arise in Dallas. Gulutzan’s other option is veteran Casey DeSmith, who has just five playoff appearances in his career, including his two relief appearances last spring. And in his most recent game, last week against Toronto, he gave up five goals on 27 shots. — Lazerus
Hurt Hintz leaves a void
Last year at this time, Heiskanen’s injury status was the hottest topic of discussion surrounding the Stars. But unlike last season’s playoffs, when Heiskanen didn’t return from a knee injury until Game 4 of the second round, the star Stars defenseman was ready for Game 1 against Minnesota.
It’s another Finn whose absence is sorely felt. Roope Hintz, expected back before the end of the regular season from a lower-body injury suffered in early March, had a setback and now could miss the entire first round. Gulutzan hasn’t confirmed one way or the other if Hintz might be able to go at some point in the first round, but he certainly hasn’t sounded optimistic.
Dallas has plenty of forward depth, but the dynamic two-way center is a linchpin of the lineup. Without him centering the second line, Matt Duchene had to move up from the third line to serve as Jason Robertson’s and Mavrik Bourque’s center. Partly as a result of the musical chairs, suddenly journeyman Sam Steel, who scored a career-high 12 goals this season, is on Dallas’ top line.
It’s a big hole in what, when healthy, is an almost unmatched top nine. Robertson and Hintz played to a 31-14 scoring edge at five-on-five this season, with a 57.63 percent expected-goals share. Robertson and Duchene have played to a more modest 9-7 scoring edge, with a 53.38 percent expected goals share.
The Robertson-Duchene-Bourque line was easily Dallas’ best in Game 1, but Hintz’s absence ripples throughout the lineup. The Johnston line and the Justin Hryckowian lines mustered precious little offense and were on the ice for Minnesota’s three five-on-five goals. — Lazerus