The Stars host the Wild in Game 2 of their West playoff series Monday
By Matt Severance Apr 20, 2026 at 8:47 am ET • 4 min read
USATSI In my opinion, the most interesting first-round matchup in the NHL playoffs is Wild-Stars from the Western Conference, because I believe that's the only one of the eight total series where both teams could legitimately win the Stanley Cup. I mean, it's hockey so weird things can happen but that's my take. And I'm writing about tonight's Game 2 because it's a hammer Dallas spot at home. It's a great night of hockey with four total games, and the puck drops at 9:30 ET for this.
BetRivers same-game parlay (+105)
- Stars Money Line
- Alt Under 7.5
By far the most surprising Game 1 result in this postseason was the Wild just trucking the Stars in Dallas on Saturday by a score of 6-1. Am I surprised Minnesota won? Absolutely not, but by a five-goal margin? That's a stunner against excellent Dallas goalie (and Team USA backup) Jake Oettinger.
No, coach Glen Gulutzan will not turn to No. 2 Casey DeSmith on Monday, even though DeSmith did have better regular-season numbers. You don't bench your franchise goalie, who not long ago started an eight-year, $66 million extension, after one bad game. After two? Then maybe, but let's not even go there.
"It would have to be something," Gulutzan said when asked about what it would take to bench Oettinger, stopping short with that thought. "We look at game to game, so I'm not going to fish ahead to see what happens, but everything is on the table come playoff time, it doesn't matter if it's personnel or what it is. You're just trying to win a game. We don't want to mix and match too much. We lost Game 1. We've got to bounce back. ... This is a veteran group. They understand urgency."
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I didn't play Dallas in Game 1 because for some reason that franchise has a blind spot in playoff series openers. In their past 11 playoff series, the Stars have lost nine of the openers. They also lost their 2025 version in embarrassing fashion at home, 5-1 to Colorado – that was the team's eighth straight Game 1 loss. But Dallas bounced back with a 4-3 OT win in Game 2.
Of the past eight series in which the Stars dropped Game 1, they rallied to win six of them. That includes a 2023 home playoff-opening loss to the Wild. So maybe +150 to win this series is a fine idea currently, but I'm really not a huge series guy. Try to live in the now.
The Stars were one of the best defensive teams in the league during the regular season, so that made Minnesota's six-goal outburst so shocking. Especially as top Dallas blue-liner Miro Heiskanen returned after missing three games with an upper-body injury. He was minus-1 in 23:55 of ice time. It was the Wild's first Game 1 win of a series since April 2023 in Dallas. They are now -180 on the series line.
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Minnesota coach John Hynes took a minor risk Saturday in choosing Jesper Wallstedt as his goalie only as he had no playoff experience entering, while fellow Swede Filip Gustavsson has 11 games of playoff experience and generally was the No. 1 during the season. But Hynes kept a pretty regular rotation and no doubt that Wallstedt was playing much better at the end of the regular season.
The 23-year-old became only the third rookie goaltender in franchise history to appear in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was pretty sweat-free for Wallstedt in Game 1 after about the seven-minute mark of the second period as the Wild blew open a 1-0 game with three goals in a span of 5:34 of ice time. That was the franchise's fastest three goals in a playoff game since 2018.It was just the fourth time the Wild got to six goals in a playoff game and second on the road.
Special teams was a huge difference, as Minnesota was 2-for-4 on the power play – both goals coming from Joel Eriksson Ek. Star Kirill Kaprizov scored his 16th career playoff goal, tying Zach Parise for the most in team history.
That was Minnesota's fifth Game 1 win all-time, and strangely enough they all have been away. The Wild have never won their first two games in any postseason, and I don't think they will tonight. As for the total, I highly recommend doing alt Under 7.5s throughout the playoffs for the most part as any first leg of a parlay – obviously if not crazily priced.
Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series own an all-time series record of 535-252, including a 10-5 record last year. In the 2025 first round, teams that won the opener went on to win the series six of eight.
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