Top NHL Writer Urges Stars to Wake Up vs MN Wild… or Else

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Minnesota Wild vs Dallas Stars - Game 1 - 2026 NHL Playoffs
Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Wild went into Dallas on Saturday afternoon and absolutely destroyed their former hometown team from puck drop to final buzzer. Joel Eriksson Ek scored first, the only goal of the first period.

In the second, however, the Wild turned a 1-0 first period lead into a 4-1 lead by the end of the second, thanks to goals by Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman and Matt Boldy. Jason Robertson also scored Dallas’ only goal, in the middle session, but it was way too little, too late.

Minnesota Wild dominate Dallas Stars physically and emotionally

In the third period, Eriksson Ek slammed the door on any hopes the stars had of a comeback, potting his second goal of the game to make it 5-1. But Boldy added an empty-netter anyway, just to be sure.

The final score, a 6-1 Minnesota Wild victory was reflective of how the game played out.

It’s one thing to lose Game 1. It’s another to lose it in this fashion. The Stars treated the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs like it was the 53rd game of the regular season. They had no juice, no hop in their step. Their forecheck was non-existent, giving Minnesota easy clear after easy clear, every possession a none-and-done. Their penalty kill was passive; their defensemen lost seemingly every 50/50 puck.

Mark Lazerus – The Athletic

John Hynes and Bill Guerin had the Minnesota Wild ready to play for game one, even though Quinn Hughes didn’t arrive in Dallas until day of game, due to an illness he’s been struggling to shake for the better part of a week.

But while the Wild’s stars showed out all afternoon long, the Dallas Stars woke up and forgot the playoffs were starting. At least, that’s how they played. As longtime NHL reporter Mark Lazerus (The Athletic) put it, the home team played Saturday “like it was game 53 of the regular season”, not opening night of the postseason.

To Minnesota’s credit, they took advantage of Dallas’ lack of intensity, and ran them out of their own building. After the game, you’d expect the Stars players to be frustrated and ready to get vengeance in game two.

Stars players, coaches apathetic after game one loss to Wild?

To Lazerus’ surprise, that wasn’t the vibe in the Stars’ locker room after the game. Instead, Dallas players were calm, composed and unconcerned.

In fact, they were so dispassionate that the former Blackhawks reporter-turned-Senior Writer at The Athletic was struggling to identify the Stars’ attitude between unflappable and apathetic.

The Stars came out sleeping. And if Game 1 served as a wakeup call, you couldn’t tell afterward. Jake Oettinger doesn’t have to flip over tables in the locker room after being hung out to dry, but maybe something a little more fiery than, “I don’t think we played our best game, but we played a lot of playoff series and lost a lot of Game 1s.”

Miro Heiskanen doesn’t have to shatter sticks against the walls of the tunnel, but maybe something a little more spicy than, “It’s a long series, it’s a best-of-seven, it’s one game.” Glen Gulutzan doesn’t have to throw his goalie under the bus, but maybe something a little more frustrated than, “I think we all have a little bit more.”

Mark Lazerus – The Athletic

If you’ve been paying attention to Dallas Stars hockey in recent years (I haven’t), losing game one is a theme. Last year, the lost game one to the Colorado Avalanche, just to come back and win the series in seven games.

In 2024, they did the same thing against both the Golden Knights and Oilers. Going all the way back to 2023, the Stars went down 1-0 to the Wild, due to a double-overtime Minnesota victory. The Wild actually went up 2-1 in that series, before losing three straight.

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And look, the Stars have been there, they have won that. Unless you are counting Stanley Cups, there aren’t a lot of teams in the NHL who have won more in the playoffs the past handful of seasons.

Dallas has played in the last three Western Conference Finals. In 2019-20, they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, meaning in the past six NHL postseasons, the Stars have won NINE playoff series. For context, the MN Wild have won ZERO, in that same time period — actually going all the way back to 2014-15.

Lazarus urges Dallas Stars to “wake up”, or else…

So, are the Dallas Stars just used to being in this position? Is this just a veteran hockey club ready for what they know will be a grind-it-out playoff series… or is it possible the Wild’s first round playoff opponent isn’t up for that type of heavyweight fight this early in the postseason?

I guess we will find out on Monday night…

No, it’s not time to panic. But it is time to wake up. The Wild are every bit the challenge that Colorado was last year. And if Dallas doesn’t get its act together — if Oettinger doesn’t dial in, if the penalty kill doesn’t figure something out, if the defense doesn’t keep their controllers plugged in at all times, if the Stars don’t start playing like they’re in the freaking Stanley Cup playoffs — there won’t be a fourth deep run in their future.

There won’t even be another Game 1 for them to lose.

Mark Lazerus – The Athletic
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