Eric Staal had two goals and an assist to help the Minnesota Wild defeat the Dallas Stars 5-1 at Xcel Energy Center. Mikko Koivu (1:30) and Charlie Coyle (7:24) scored in the second period to put the Wild ahead 2-0.
Staal scored 35 seconds into the third to make it 3-0. After Jason Spezza's goal at 7:11 made it 3-1, Staal scored again at 14:26 for a 4-1 lead. Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves, and Jared Spurgeon had three assists for Minnesota, which went 5-2-0 in the preseason and opens the regular season at the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 5. Marcus Foligno scored a power-play goal with 33 seconds remaining to make it 5-1. Ben Bishop made 19 saves for Dallas, which finished the preseason 3-3-0 and plays its season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 6.
