The Dallas Stars will play the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Stars (46-20-12) are second in the Central Division, two points ahead of the Wild (45-21-12), with each having four games remaining. The team that finishes with more points will have home-ice advantage.
Jason Robertson leads the Stars with 91 points (41 goals, 50 assists) in 78 games. Wyatt Johnston is next with 82 points (43 goals, 39 assists) in 78 games and leads the NHL with 26 power-play goals. Mikko Rantanen has 74 points (21 goals, 53 assists) in 60 games.
Rantanen missed 15 games with a lower-body injury sustained playing for Team Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics before returning March 28, when he had a goal and an assist in a 6-3 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger, who won gold with Team USA at the Olympics, is 32-12-6 with a 2.61 goals-against average, .899 save percentage and three shutouts in 50 games. Backup Casey DeSmith is 14-8-6 with a 2.34 GAA, .910 save percentage and one shutout in 29 games (27 starts).
The Wild are led offensively by forwards Kirill Kaprizov (87 points; 43 goals, 44 assists in 76 games) and Matt Boldy, who has an NHL career-high 83 points (42 goals, 41 assists) in 74 games. Forward Vladimir Tarasenko has scored 23 goals, and forward Ryan Hartman has scored 22 goals.
Goalie Filip Gustavsson is 28-13-6 with a 2.59 GAA, .904 save percentage and four shutouts in 48 games (47 starts). Rookie Jesper Wallstedt is 17-8-6 with a 2.65 GAA, .915 save percentage and four shutouts in 33 games (31 starts).
The Wild are 2-1-0 against the Stars heading the final game of the season series at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+).
Boldy (two goals, two assists) and Tarasenko (one goal, three assists) each has four points against the Stars, and Kaprizov has three (one goal, two assists). Gustavsson has started all three games, going 2-1-0 with a 1.99 GAA and .915 save percentage.
Miro Heiskanen leads the Stars against the Wild with four points (one goal, three assists) and Robertson has two goals and one assist. Johnston, forward Roope Hintz and defenseman Esa Lindell each has one goal and two assists.
Oettinger is 1-1-1 with a 2.31 GAA and .929 save percentage against Minnesota this season.
This will be the third playoff series between the teams. The Stars won each of the previous two: the 2016 first round in six games and the 2023 first round, also in six.
“We learned some lessons last time we played them,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. “We know that they’re a really good team, and so are we. But they have some lethal weapons, and we’re just more educated, more experienced going into this series than we were before.”
