Stars lock up first wild card in West, shut out Wild

DALLAS --The Dallas Stars locked up the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with a 3-0 win against the Minnesota Wild at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

Dallas (43-32-7), which went 5-1-1 in its final seven games, will play the Nashville Predators, who won the Central Division, in the first round. Ben Bishop made 24 saves for his NHL career-high seventh shutout of the season, and Tyler Seguin scored twice.
"The fun begins now," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said.
WATCH: [All Wild vs. Stars highlights]
Alex Stalock made 41 saves for Minnesota (37-36-9), which went 4-9-1 in its final 14 games.
"It was a tough one tonight for sure," Wild forward Eric Staal said. "There's a certain level you need to be at to be competitive in this League, and we weren't at it besides [Stalock]."
The Wild, who were eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday, will miss the postseason for the first time since 2012.
"I thought even at the deadline there we made a lot of moves and we brought on a lot of new faces," Staal said. "I still thought we had a chance to work our way to a playoff spot. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get enough guys going to be able to push for that last spot. It's disappointing, obviously, to be left to play for nothing, and we looked like that tonight."

Greg Pateryn appeared to score for the Wild at 19:42 of the second period, but Montgomery challenged for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.
Seguin gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 2:44 of the third period with a one-timer from the left circle on the power play. Alexander Radulov got his 300th NHL point with the primary assist on the play.
Seguin extended the lead to 2-0 at 8:55, scoring with a backhand on a rebound in front.

Tyler Pitlick scored into an open net to make it 3-0 at 12:01 on a rebound after Stalock made the initial save on a driving Roope Hintz. Wild coach Bruce Boudreau challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the call was upheld after a video review.
Bishop, who made 12 saves in the third period, was playing in his first game since March 27 (four games) because of a lower-body injury. He led the NHL in save percentage (.934) and was second in goals-against average (1.98) behind Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues (1.89).
"I think it was important for him to get in there and just know that everything's working right and he's ready to go," Montgomery said. "That was the most important thing."
Bishop said, "I felt good. Obviously, the team played well and it was nice to get back in there. It seemed like it had been a little bit of time. It was nice to get back in there and get a win."
Minnesota was shut out for the 11th time this season, the second most in its history. The Wild were shut out 14 times in their inaugural season in 2000-01.
"If [scoring is] not addressed (in the offseason), then we have problems," Wild forward Jason Zucker said.

They said it

"It's a long time until next year. You never want it to be over. It's a disappointing moment." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
"We expect to be a playoff team next year. No doubt about it." -- Wild forward Eric Staal
"The emotion is higher, the hits are harder, and the goals are bigger celebrations. It's the best time of the year." -- Stars forward Tyler Seguin on the playoffs

Need to know

Seguin had 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in the final 10 games. … Radulov ended the season on an eight-game point streak (five goals, seven assists). … Dallas went 2-1-2 against Nashville in the regular season.

What's next

Wild:Season over
Stars:At the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round (TBD)