2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Wild vs. Stars Western 1st Round preview

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Saturday. Today, NHL.com previews the Western Conference First Round between the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars.

(3C) Minnesota Wild vs. (2C) Dallas Stars

Wild: 46-24-12, 104 points

Stars: 50-20-12, 112 points

Season series: DAL: 2-1-1; MIN: 2-2-0

Game 1: Saturday at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN, SN, TVAS)

The first-round matchup that seemed inevitable for months is finally happening.

The Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars will meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third time after occupying second and third place in the Central Division every day since Nov. 21, a stretch of 147 days.

Dallas moved into second place on Feb. 28 and never moved out, holding off the Wild partially thanks to a 5-4 third-period comeback win against them on April 9 to finish second and get home-ice advantage in the first round.

"The four games we played, we each had one where we won by a couple and the others were one-goal games, but even those we won by a couple were 3-2 and a couple empty-netters," Minnesota captain Jared Spurgeon said. "I think we match up well. Each game we've played against them it's been a tight, playoff-type atmosphere. For us, just looking forward to the challenge. You want to give yourself a chance to win the Stanley Cup. You have to get in to give yourself a chance. We're excited."

The Stars and Wild are the only two teams in the League this season with multiple 40-goal scorers.

Kirill Kaprizov led the Wild with 45 goals with Matt Boldy right behind him with 42.

Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson each had 45 goals to lead Dallas.

Robertson (96 points), Kaprizov (89), Johnston (86) and Boldy (85) were all top 20 in the League in scoring.

"Overall, I think it's a battle of two really, really good teams," Johnston said. "All you have to do is look at the standings and see these are two of the better teams in the League. This is what you play for the whole regular season, to get in the playoffs and put yourself into an opportunity to succeed. I think it'll be an awesome series. I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun not only to play in but for spectators and fans to see the level of hockey that is going to be played."

The series could also feature two of the top 10 defensemen in the League; Quinn Hughes (76 points) and Miro Heiskanen (63).

Hughes will play his first playoff series with the Wild after they acquired the Norris Trophy winner from the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 12.

He had 53 points (five goals, 48 assists) in 48 games with the Wild after the trade, including four on a goal and three assists in two games against the Stars. He had 23 points in 26 games with the Canucks before the trade.

"Seeing him consistently every single day, it's just amazing how he can change the game with one shift and how every time he's on the ice he dictates with the way the play is going with his speed, skating and his creativity," Spurgeon said. "Playing against him you know how special he is, but now that you see him every night there's just things every single game where us 'D' are on the bench going, 'Holy crap, did you just see that?' We're very happy he's on our side."

Heiskanen sustained a lower-body injury in the 5-4 win against the Wild on April 9. He missed Dallas' last three games and his status for Game 1 is still to be determined.

In addition, Stars center Roope Hintz will miss at least the first two games of the series with a lower-body injury he sustained March 6.

Hintz had 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 53 games this season.

The Stars are not sure if Hintz will be able to play in the series, but they are hopeful.

"I don't know what's going on timeline-wise, but they are two huge pieces, obviously," Johnston said. "Roope is one of the best centers in the League and Miro is probably the best two-way defenseman in the League, in my opinion. They bring a ton to the table for our team. As soon as we can get them back it'll be awesome and it'll be huge for us."

Game breakers

Wild: Kaprizov is one of the premier game breakers in the NHL. The Wild's leading scorer averaged 1.14 points per game. He is seventh in the League in points per game (1.24) since 2021-22 with 424 points (203 goals, 221 assists) in 342 games. He had five points (three goals, two assists) in three games against the Stars this season, giving him 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 13 games against Dallas in his NHL career.

Stars: It's a toss-up between Johnston and Robertson for Dallas' most impactful game breaker. Johnston gets the edge because of his power-play prowess. He led the NHL with 27 goals on the power play this season. Only Leon Draisaitl (32 in 2022-23 with the Edmonton Oilers), Sam Reinhart (27 in 2023-24 with the Florida Panthers) and Ilya Kovalchuk (27 in 2005-06 with the Atlanta Thrashers) have scored more power-play goals in a season in the past 30 years. Johnston has not missed a game in four NHL seasons.

Goaltending

Wild: Filip Gustavsson has played more than Jesper Wallstedt since the Olympic break after the two alternated for the majority of the first three quarters of the season. But Wallstedt has played better than Gustavsson since the break. Wallstedt is 4-4-2 with a 2.37 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 12 games, including 10 starts, since he was Team Sweden's third goalie at the Winter Olympics. Gustavsson is 8-6-0 with a 2.82 GAA and .895 save percentage in 14 games, all starts, since playing for Sweden in Milan. It's possible both will play in the series. Gustavsson had 28 wins, a 2.69 GAA, .904 save percentage and four shutouts in 50 games (49 starts); Wallstedt had 18 wins, a 2.61 GAA, .916 save percentage and four shutouts in 35 games (33 starts).

Stars: Jake Oettinger, Dallas' Minnesota-native goalie, is back for more against the Wild after posting a 2.01 GAA and .929 save percentage in six games against them in the playoffs three years ago. Oettinger was 2-1-1 with a 2.73 GAA and .915 save percentage in four starts against Minnesota this season. He finished the season with 35 wins, a 2.59 GAA, .899 save percentage and four shutouts in 54 games, all as a starter. Casey DeSmith is one of the top backup goalies this season with 15 wins, a 2.43 GAA, .907 save percentage and one shutout in 30 games (28 starts).

Numbers to know

Wild: The Wild set a franchise record for best single-season power play percentage at 25.2, which was third in the League. It topped the previous record of 22.7 percent in 2022-23. They went 27.7 percent on the power play starting with Hughes' debut following the trade on Dec. 14. Hughes had 22 points on the power play. He set a Wild record for most points in a season by a defenseman with 53 in only 48 games.

Stars: Like the Wild, the Stars set a single-season franchise record and finished second in the League on the power play this season at 28.6 percent. The Stars scored at least two power-play goals in a game 18 times, tying the single-season franchise record set in 2007-08. Johnston's 27 power-play goals were also a single-season franchise record.

They said it

"I think there are probably more similarities than not in the sense that I think they're a well-put-together team, they play with strong structure, they're highly competitive, they're good on special teams and they play for each other. When you look at the combinations, you see why the games have been so competitive. The playoffs will be a different animal, but the regular-season games, Minnesota-Dallas, it's always pretty intense, not a lot of free space on the ice." -- Wild coach John Hynes

"Us playing the Wild and us playing Colorado, and just like them playing us and Colorado, every game seems so tight and seems like a playoff game even though it's in the regular season. I'm sure the intensity level will be higher and the level of play will be higher, but it's really just two great teams that have a lot of different tools and ways to play that make them battle." -- Johnston

Will win if …

Wild: Hughes has to be their driver, especially if Heiskanen is compromised. The Wild match up well with the Stars in all areas, which is why their regular-season series was so close, but Hughes can be the difference-maker with his skating and motor from the back end, leading the offense and playing what might be 30 minutes per game if necessary. If Hughes is the best player in the series, and Kaprizov or Boldy the best forward, the Wild will have an excellent chance to advance.

Stars: They have won all season because they're the best team in the League at shutting down the opposition in the first period, allowing a League-low 61 goals in the first 20 minutes. It's the old adage of a strong defense leading to sustained offense because they tend to dominate the second period. The Stars had a League-best plus-32 goal differential in the second period this season (100-68). Start strong, defense first, and let that drive the offense. They were plus-10 in the third period (95-85). The Stars are at their best when doing that, especially because they tend to generate power plays, and they're elite on the power play. Dominate the first and they could own this series.

How they look

Stars projected lineup

Sam Steel -- Wyatt Johnston -- Mikko Rantanen

Jason Robertson -- Matt Duchene -- Mavrik Bourque

Jamie Benn -- Justin Hryckowian -- Michael Bunting

Oskar Back -- Radek Faksa -- Adam Erne

Thomas Harley -- Nils Lundkvist

Esa Lindell -- Ilya Lyubushkin

Lian Bichsel -- Tyler Myers

Jake Oettinger

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Kyle Capobianco, Alexander Petrovic, Colin Blackwell, Arttu Hyry

Injured: Nathan Bastian (hand), Miro Heiskanen (lower body), Roope Hintz (lower body), Tyler Seguin (ACL)

Wild projected lineup

Kirill Kaprizov -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Johansson -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Boldy

Vladimir Tarasenko -- Danila Yurov -- Yakov Trenin

Marcus Foligno -- Michael McCarron -- Nick Foligno

Quinn Hughes -- Brock Faber

Jonas Brodin -- Jared Spurgeon

Jake Middleton -- Jeff Petry

Filip Gustavsson

Jesper Wallstedt

Scratched: Bobby Brink, Robby Fabbri, Daemon Hunt, Nico Sturm

Injured: Zach Bogosian (lower body)