Wyatt Johnston scored on a power-play deflection at 12:10 of the second overtime to lift the Dallas Stars to a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild early Thursday. The win gives Dallas a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

Matt Duchene tied the game for Dallas on a power play in the middle of the third period. His tying goal came seconds after his backcheck on Matt Boldy stopped a short-handed bid that would have put Minnesota ahead by two.

Minnesota missed two overtime power-play chances and finished 1 for 7 with the man advantage. Dallas scored after Danila Yurov drew a delay-of-game penalty. Miro Heiskanen fired a shot that Johnston redirected for his third goal in three games and his sixth postseason winner in four career postseasons.

“It’s kind of a little blurry, but just trying to get to the net and just trying to get my stick on the puck,” Johnston said, describing the play that ended the game.

The game finally ended at 12:54 a.m. Radek Faksa had a close-range chance in the second overtime when he poked the puck behind Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, but it slid across the crease and did not go in.

Wallstedt made a strong 32-save effort and stopped the Stars’ first power play by snatching Mikko Rantanen’s shot and smothering Esa Lindell’s attempt. Johnston’s deflection spoiled that performance.

“We definitely played well enough to win,” Wallstedt said. “It’s small margins. It’s a ‘D’ shot that double tips and hits twice and goes over my shoulder. Yeah, it’s bounces, but that’s what it is.”

In the first overtime, Jake Oettinger’s blocker save on Brock Faber sent a loud thump through the arena. Later in the period, Hughes drew a tripping penalty on Sam Steel, giving Minnesota another chance, but the Wild generated little pressure even with Faksa killing much of that penalty without a stick. Jamie Benn’s holding penalty on Nick Foligno gave the Wild one more opportunity. Oettinger finished with 28 saves.

Earlier, the Wild killed four penalties between Rantanen’s power-play tip-in just 1:25 into the game and Duchene’s quieting snap shot that slipped between defenseman Jared Spurgeon and the near post. When Spurgeon left the box, he started a rush that Michael McCarron finished with his first NHL playoff goal to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead.

Jason Robertson opened the scoring after a slick stretch pass from Duchene to put Dallas up 2-0 in the first period. Marcus Johansson answered on a power play less than five minutes later, and Joel Eriksson Ek tied it in the second after Matt Boldy weaved through defenders and set up the goal. Boldy had a career-high 42 goals during the regular season, while Johnston had a career-high 45.

Historically, the winner of Game 3 after a 1-1 split goes on to win the series far more often than not; that has been the case in the majority of past series. The Wild, who have not advanced past the first round since 2015, have a 4-14 record in playoff series and have lost 17 of their last 23 postseason home games.

“Whether we won tonight or lost tonight, this series isn’t over,” Hughes said. “It’s a really good hockey game. We had our looks. They had their looks. Just leave it at that.”