Matt Boldy had two goals with an assist, Joel Ericksson Ek scored two power-play goals and rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt stopped 27 shots in his postseason debut to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 6-1 on Saturday in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series.
Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and two assists and Mats Zuccarello had three helpers for the Wild, who have lost nine consecutive playoff series since 2015. This was an impressive start in a long-expected matchup of Central Division rivals who finished behind Presidents' Trophy winner Colorado.
“A great stepping stone for us,” said defenseman Quinn Hughes, back after missing the end of the regular season with an illness.
“I think throughout the lineup tonight we came in and the guys were focused,” coach John Hynes said. “The thing I like is when we came in, I thought that we executed well. When it was time to check, we checked well. But I just thought we had the right mindset in how we need to play. And that was throughout the lines.”
Game 2 is Monday night in Dallas.
Dallas allowed the first goal in 15 of its 18 playoff games last year, and gave up three power-play goals in a 5-4 win over the Wild just nine days earlier.
The Stars trailed for good only 5 1/2 minutes into the series when Ericksson Ek scored on a pass from Boldy to make it 1-0. Ericksson Ek added another power-play goal past Jake Oettinger in the third.
Even though the Stars have made the West final each of the past three seasons, they are 1-7 in Game 1s at home during that span.
“I don’t even know what the record was coming into it,” said Glen Gultzan, who returned last summer for his second stint as the Stars coach. “The first period was tight, they executed on the power play. But we couldn’t get our game going at all in the second. I thought that they certainly, to a man, were better than us.”
Kaprizov and Boldy, the first Wild teammates with 40 goals in the same season, scored during a three-goal surge in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the second period for a 4-0 lead. Ryan Hartman scored in between, after having the primary assist on Kaprizov's goal.
Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston both had 45 goals as the first Dallas teammates with 40 goals in the same season. They combined on the Stars' power-play goal with 4:50 left in the second, Robertson scoring on a back-hander after gathering a pass from Johnston.
Minnesota went with the 23-year-old Wallstedt in net over playoff-experienced Filip Gustavsson, who in his playoff debut three years ago had 51 saves in a 3-2 double-overtime win at Dallas.
“He’s done a lot so far,” Hughes said. “I think we’ve got a lot of belief in both of those guys, and to be honest I didn’t think about it for a second. … We’ve got a lot of good pieces around here that keep everyone calm.”
Wallstedt's first NHL game was a 7-2 loss at Dallas in January 2024, but that was only one of five games he played for the Wild until this regular season, when he went 4-1 with a 1.82 goals-against average and .936 save percentage his last five starts. He also had four shutouts in a six-game span early this season.
The Wild still led only 1-0 with Dallas on the power play midway through the first period when Wallstedt, shielded and looking to the right of traffic, reached back to his left to make a glove save on a shot by Robertson.
Oettinger, who grew up about 30 miles from Minnesota's home arena, stopped 23 shots to open his 11th postseason series as the Stars starting goalie.
