Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, Quinn Hughes had a goal and an assist, Mats Zuccarello had three assists, and Matt Boldy had two assists for the Wild (45-22-12), which snapped a four-game win streak. Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves.
“It was tough. I felt like there were a few tough goals out there. For how we played, we should have gotten a better result today. I felt like we were playing pretty good,” Gustavsson said. “I think we got a taste of what small details we just have to be better at. We played too good to have the result we had today.”
The Stars and Wild will face each other in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I think a couple of goals we gave up were just structural, there were some mistakes. Good on them, we made a mistake or didn’t have the right read or timing on a play and it ended up in the back of the net. But I think there’s lots we can take from this one for sure,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Every time you play, I think these two teams play each other it’s always a hard-fought battle. Tonight, you saw some emotion in the game and I think that’s to be expected.”
Johnston gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 4:26 in the first period when he flipped in a loose puck at the left post.
Quinn Hughes tied it 1-1 at 13:02, getting the puck back from Zuccarello as he crossed the blue line and beating Oettinger stick-side on a shot from the inside of the right face-off circle.
With the goal, Quinn Hughes broke the Wild franchise record for points by a defenseman in the regular season (53 points; five goals, 48 assists in 47 games since his trade from Vancouver on Dec. 12, 2025).
Kaprizov gave the Wild a 2-1 lead when he finished off a cross-ice pass on the back door on the power play at 19:44. He made it 3-1 at 6:39 of the second period when he punched in a rebound from the back side of the net on the power play.
“I feel we played pretty good. This is the game. Score more goals and win. It’s OK. We just keep going. We still have a couple of games left and just keep playing. It was a good game,” Kaprizov said. “I feel pretty good and it’s always an exciting time. It’s the best time of the year. We still have a couple of games left and want to focus on those games. If we play Dallas (in the first round), we just have to be ready.”