The Wild will look to take a 2-0 series lead against the Stars tonight, something the franchise has never done in a playoff series. Minnesota won in convincing fashion in Game 1, 6-1, tying its largest margin of victory in franchise postseason history. It was a total team effort in the Game 1 win, but the Wild also got massive contributions from its star players as well. Matt Boldy (2-1=3), Joel Eriksson Ek (2-1=3), Kirill Kaprizov (1-2=3) and Mats Zuccarello (0-3=3) all had three points in the win. Jesper Wallstedt, in his first career playoff game, stopped 27-of-28 shots faced to become the first rookie Wild goaltender in team history to earn a win in his playoff debut.
Both teams had four power play opportunities in Game 1, with the Wild going 2-4 and Dallas going 1-4. Eriksson Ek scored both power play goals for Minnesota while Jason Robertson, who has a goal in four consecutive playoff games, scored for Dallas. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs in 2023, Dallas went 5-11 (45.5%) on the power play in the first two games of the series, compared to Minnesota going 2-9 (22.2%). Minnesota will look to keep the special teams edge moving into tonight’s crucial Game 2.
For Dallas, the last nine times they have fallen behind 0-1 in a series, they are 6-3 in Game 2. If Dallas wants to continue that trend, they will need a turnaround from goaltender, Jake Oettinger. Including Saturday’s Game 1 loss, Oettinger is 0-4-0 with a 4.45 GAA, a .836 SV% and 18 goals allowed in his last five postseason starts. Teams who go down 0-2 in playoff series are 58-360 (.139) all-time.
Players to Watch:
Matt Boldy: With three points in Game 1, Boldy is now up to 10 points (7-3=10) in his last seven playoff games. His three-point outing in Game 1 established a new playoff career-high and marked the fourth multi-point playoff game of his career.
