DALLAS — Jason Robertson delivered the late go-ahead goal — his 42nd of the season — with 9:25 remaining, and the Dallas Stars held on for a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Wild in a physical, playoff-style matchup between the Central Division rivals.
Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen and Colin Blackwell each finished with a goal and an assist for Dallas. The win pushed the Stars to 106 points, four points clear of Minnesota; both teams are already set to meet in the first round, but three regular-season games remain to decide which club will have home-ice advantage.
Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov scored twice on the power play, giving him 45 goals on the season and tying a franchise mark with 19 power-play tallies. Mats Zuccarello added three assists for the Wild, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end in a rare regulation loss when holding a lead entering the third period.
The game featured several momentum swings. Johnston opened the scoring late in the first, and Kaprizov answered by putting Minnesota ahead 2-1 with 16 seconds to go in the opening frame. Kaprizov struck again on the power play early in the second to make it 3-1, but Blackwell and Cameron Hughes — the latter scoring his first career NHL goal after a Blackwell assist — pulled Dallas back into contention before Ryan Hartman’s power-play goal with nine seconds remaining in the second made it 4-3 Minnesota.
Robertson’s game-winner came in the third, and Minnesota pressed for a response. They earned a late power play following a slashing penalty on Rantanen with about 2½ minutes left and pulled goalie Filip Gustavsson for the extra attacker, but were unable to convert. Stars netminder Jake Oettinger finished with 27 saves; Gustavsson stopped 15 shots for Minnesota.
The contest was rugged and left both teams banged up. Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen was driven into the boards late in the first and did not return. Earlier in the period a Minnesota center was struck in the face by a puck off a deflection and also left the game.
Up next
Wild: Visit Nashville for the second game of a three-game road trip on Saturday as the Predators fight to hold onto a playoff spot in the West.
Stars: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday in their home finale of the regular season.
