1. In its first game back from the All-Star break, the Wild nearly mustered a point.
It was rough in the early going, but Minnesota managed to stay within striking distance all night. After a scoreless first, Andrew Cogliano scored his first goal in a Stars uniform 3:12 into the second period.
Five minutes later, Brad Hunt scored his first in a Wild uniform.
It wasn't until the latter minutes of the third period when Dallas scored the difference-making goal, when Tyler Seguin's slapper found its way through Devan Dubnyk's five hole, giving the Stars a lead it wouldn't relinquish with just under eight minutes to play.
The loss ended Minnesota's three-game winning streak and vaulted the Stars into third place in the Central Division, ahead of the Wild by a single point.
Minnesota maintains a hold on the first wild card position in the Western Conference and will have no time to grumble about the defeat: It's back in action tomorrow night in St. Paul in a nationally-televised contest against the Chicago Blackhawks.
2. Following an eight-day layoff, the Wild knew it would likely need to weather an early storm.
Especially against a Dallas team that played a game on Wednesday, Minnesota expected the first 20 to potentially be a rough one. Luckily for the Wild, its goaltender was a part of All-Star weekend, so his layoff was significantly shorter than everyone else's.