It requires 16 playoff wins to spend the summer with the Stanley Cup. And while the Minnesota Wild are only one-fourth of the way there, the franchise’s first playoff series win in more than a decade felt like a huge first step in that direction.
Quinn Hughes scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period on Thursday, the game-winner for the Wild on the way to a 5-2 victory over Dallas at Grand Casino Arena, sending Minnesota on to Round 2 of the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Quinn Hughes #43 of the Minnesota Wild celebrates a goal after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars during the first period in Game Six of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Grand Casino Arena on April 30, 2026 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
The Wild will meet Colorado, which finished first Central Division with an NHL-best 121 points, in the second round.
Hughes also assisted on a second-period goal for the Wild, who got a 22-save night from rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt in the win. It was just the second time in franchise history that Minnesota has clinched a playoff series win at home.
“Hughesy was at the top of his game tonight and he was a difference-maker in many different ways,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Obviously the way that he drove offense and was able to score, but I thought in general his competitive nature tonight was puck battles, defending, the way that I thought he skated and competed throughout the game, on both sides of the puck, was high-level.”
With the game tied 2-2 in the third, Hughes zipped a pass across the front of the crease intended for a teammate. The puck hit the skate of Dallas defender Ilya Lyubushkin and deflected into the net.
Game 1 of Minnesota’s second round series versus Avalanche will start at Ball Arena in Denver, likely on Monday, although the date and time have yet to be announced by the NHL.
Dallas pulled goalie Jake Oettinger for an extra attacker with more than three minutes to play in regulation, but Matt Boldy hit an empty net goal with 91 seconds to play, and another with 14.8 left for the clinchers. Boldy said this is just the first of the team’s goals for the current postseason.
“We didn’t have the goal to win the first round,” he said. “You dream big. You set high expectations for yourself and each other. It’s been like that the whole series, kind of the ‘on to the next’ mentality.”
Oettinger finished with 16 saves for the Stars.
The crowd was still buzzing from retired goalie Marc-Andre Fleury leading them in the pregame “Let’s Play Hockey” cheer when Hughes weaved through traffic in the offensive zone, getting Stars center Radek Faksa to bite on a deft stick move, then unleashing a rising wrist shot. With bodies likely limiting Oettinger’s view, the puck found a gap between the far post and the goalie’s glove. It was Hughes’ first playoff goal with Minnesota.
Two shifts later, Oettinger made a sprawling leg save to thwart a 2-on-1 rush to the net where Nico Sturm and Marcus Foligno — who had both assisted on Hughes’ goal — came very close to doubling the Wild lead.
Dallas killed the first penalty of the game early in the second, allowing just one Minnesota shot. Then the Stars went on the power play, which has been their only consistent source of offense in the series, and tied the game on Wyatt Johnston’s fourth playoff goal.
Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt celebrates after right wing Vladimir Tarasenko scores during the second period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Dallas Stars,Thursday, April 30, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
The Wild’s second power play of the game was also unsuccessful, but featured a Mats Zuccarello shot that deflected off Oettinger’s left shoulder, then off the crossbar and out of danger.
The Stars got a juicy carom off the end boards late in the middle frame to take their first lead of the night, when Mavrik Bourque pounced on a loose puck at the top of the crease. But Minnesota tied things back up less than a minute later, when Tarasenko backhanded a shot into a yawning net with the Dallas goalie pulled out of position when Hughes’ shot was deflected at the other side of the crease. It was Tarasenko’s 50th career playoff goal, and his first with the Wild.
Minnesota suffered a vital personnel loss in the opening minute of the third when center Joel Eriksson Ek went down awkwardly in the offensive zone. He had to be helped from the ice and headed down the tunnel. He returned midway through the third.
With the Stars pressing to tie, Wallstedt made 10 third period saves and held on for several whistles to squelch any Dallas momentum.
“He was pretty special this series,” Hughes said. “He made some big saves, some timely saves and, I mean, to think that he’s only 23 and to handle the pressure and to play big like he did, we’re gonna need to continue to do that.”
The Wild were without defenseman Jonas Brodin for the first time in the playoffs after he was injured blocking a shot in the second period of Game 5 in Dallas. Earlier in the day, Hynes said Brodin is considered day to day. Veteran Jeff Petry, acquired at the trade deadline, took Brodin’s place on the third defensive pairing with Zach Bogosian.
For Dallas, which had the second-best regular season record in the Western Conference, the early exit from the playoffs was a disappointment.
“There’s probably six to eight of us in the league, and somebody wins and somebody loses. So that’s a hard pill to swallow,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “Especially for all the work our guys have put in, and how much character we have in our team With the regular season success you had, you expect more but it just goes to show you how hard it is to win.”
The Wild have advanced to the third round only once in franchise history.
Briefly
The Stars ended Thursday’s game with a 3-20 franchise record in series where they trailed 3-2 after five games. Two of those series wins — in 1980 versus Montreal and in 1968 versus Los Angeles — came when the team was still based in Minnesota. Formed in 1967 as an expansion team, the North Stars played 26 seasons in Bloomington before moving to Dallas in 1993.