DALLAS — The Minnesota Wild are one win away from advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs 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 their Western Conference first-round series.
The series resumes Thursday in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Wild will have the first of two chances to win their first series since 2015 when they beat the St. Louis Blues in six games before losing in the conference semifinals 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 team 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 this series with a 6-1 win was immense for a few reasons. It gave the Wild 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 postseasons.
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. Minnesota’s aggressive backcheck and oppressive forecheck saw it find multiple ways to frustrate a Dallas attack that finished the regular season in the top 10 in goals per game.
The Wild are now a game away from the second round while also raising questions about their ability to 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 sitting out the past three games because of an upper-body injury, got his team off to a quick start Tuesday by scoring a little more than four minutes into the first period. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger made the initial save, but the rebound went 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 61.2%, which means they controlled possession. But the disconnect was 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 led to another bench minor penalty for too many skaters. That led to Boldy firing a wrist shot on the ensuing power play for his fourth postseason goal and a 2-1 lead with 30.7 seconds left in the period.
The Stars were then faced with a comeback attempt heading into the third period after going nearly 198 minutes without scoring a 5-on-5 goal.
“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, whom the Wild acquired ahead of the trade deadline, pushed the lead to 3-1 with 12:13 left in the third on a goal that would force Stars coach Glen Gulutzan to eventually take a more aggressive approach.
Gulutzan pulled Oettinger for an extra skater with around four minutes left and Jason Robertson trimmed the lead to 3-2 with 3:21 remaining.
But the Stars’ hope was short-lived as Kaprizov fought off Heiskanen for a loose puck and scored into an empty net just 1:21 later for a 4-2 lead.
Four goals against the Stars means the Wild will enter Wednesday third in the NHL in goals per game this postseason. Giving up 2.60 goals per game makes Minnesota a top-five unit.
It adds up to the Wild looking like one of the most complete teams in the NHL.
“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.”
