2. No Parise --Wild forward Zach Parise seemed to find his game down the stretch, scoring six goals and five assists over his final eight games.
Parise missed a practice and the regular-season finale against Calgary before it was revealed that he had been playing with a back injury for several weeks, one that might require offseason microdiscectomy surgery. Parise hoped several days of physical therapy would help enough so he could parachute in mid-series, but the Wild's leading goal scorer was never able to get right.
"He's our No. 1 battler, for one. He's the type of guy that we need," Wild interim coach John Torchetti said.
3. Missed opportunities -- Minnesota did a lot of things well in the series but wasn't able to put it all together for a complete game.
Everything went awry in its 4-0 loss in Game 1.
It was the missed scoring chances in a Game 2 loss.
The Wild led twice in Game 4 but its stingy penalty kill, which allowed one goal on 13 power plays in the first three games, allowed goals on the only two man-advantage opportunities Dallas received.
Dallas jumped out to a 4-0 lead in Game 6 before Minnesota stormed back with four in the third period. But in the midst of the comeback, a fluky goal by Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski ended up being the game-winner.
Even in victory, the Wild didn't make things easy on themselves.
Minnesota fell behind 2-0 in the opening five minutes of a 5-3 win in Game 3. The Wild got out to a 2-0 lead in the first few minutes of Game 5 in Dallas before watching the Stars slowly chip away, eventually taking a lead in the third period.
Only a late goal by Mikko Koivu and then an overtime-winner salvaged a victory.