Recap: Stars fend off Wild in 6-3 win, tie Minnesota for third in Central

How does a tie for third place in the Central Division sound?
What might've been a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel not that long ago is very real now, as the Stars have clawed their way back into the fight for a top-three spot in the division.

In a game with enormous implications, the Stars used a comeback effort to defeat the Minnesota Wild 6-3 at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday. With 67 points, the Stars have tied the Wild for third place in the division, though Minnesota still holds the spot with one less game played.
You know the phrase objects in the mirror are closer than they appear? With the win, the Stars are now just four points behind St. Louis for second place in the Central.
Though the Stars will take wins any way they can get them, they certainly didn't make things easy on themselves in the third period.
Holding a 4-1 lead with nearly nine minutes remaining in the third, the Stars failed to score into an empty net for the first seven of those minutes. Instead, they gave up two goals to Kirill Kaprizov to make it 4-3.
It wasn't until there were 65 seconds left on the clock when Jamie Benn fired a shot from the far end into the empty net to restore a multi-goal lead.

In front of a national television audience, Jason Robertson delivered his second consecutive three-goal performance, scoring twice in the second period and once in the third to give him 29 goals on the season. He became the first player to record back-to-back hat tricks since Alex Ovechkin from Jan. 16-18, 2020.

Hometown kids Riley Tufte and Jake Oettinger had memorable performances as well. Tufte, from nearby Coon Rapids, scored his first career NHL goal with a beautiful second-chance effort and an epic celebration on his back.

Oettinger, from nearby Lakeville, turned aside 32 of 35 shots to boost Dallas' record this season to 32-20-3. He improved to 4-0-1 in his past five games, 8-1-1 in his past 10 and 19-6-1 overall.

The Stars have won four in a row and have points in six consecutive games (5-0-1). They've also gone 8-1-1 in their past 10 road contests with victories in their first two games of this three-game road trip.
It was a comeback effort for the Stars, who gave up the opening goal to Nico Sturm at the 10:52 mark of the first period.
Joe Pavelski got the Stars even on the scoreboard with a crucial goal in the closing seconds of the opening frame. His 22nd goal of the season came with 2.1 seconds left in the first period on a backhander that caromed off Dmitry Kulikov and into the top corner.
The goal was challenged for goalie interference, but the call on the ice stood. It marked Pavelski's team-leading 29th point on the road this season and the 901st point of his NHL career.

From there, the Stars took over on offense.
Robertson put the Stars up 2-1 in the opening minutes of the second period with a power-play strike, his 27th goal of the season.

Then, Tufte doubled the lead with the Stars' third goal in a span of a little more than three minutes of game time.
Robertson made it 4-1 at the 9:52 mark of the middle frame with a shot from way out that snuck past Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen. It'd be the last shot Kahkonen would face in the game, as he was replaced by Cam Talbot. Kahkonen finished with 17 saves on 21 shots.

The Stars will conclude their three-game road trip on Tuesday in Nashville against a Predators team that's one point behind them in the standings.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.