Robertson's 42nd goal lifts Stars over Wild in a preview before their 1st-round playoff series

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Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) and Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) slam into the boards chasing after the puck in the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, right, skates away as teammates and Minnesota Wild players fight in the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) — Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) and Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) slam into the boards chasing after the puck in the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Audio By Carbonatix

12:15 AM on Friday, April 10

By STEPHEN HAWKINS

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored his 42nd goal with 9:25 left and the Dallas Stars held on for a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Wild in a physical and entertaining preview of the upcoming playoff series between the Central Division foes.

Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen and Colin Blackwell each had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who now at 106 points are four ahead of Minnesota. They were already locked in as first-round opponents, but both still have three regular-season games left to determine home-ice advantage.

Kirill Kaprizov had two of Minnesota’s three power-play goals, giving him 45 goals overall and matching his single-season franchise record at 19 power-play goals. Mats Zuccarello had three assists.

But the Wild had their four-game winning streak snapped in an uncharacteristic way. It was their first regulation loss since March 2024 when leading going into the third period — 61-0-4 in that span.

Minnesota had another power-play chance after Rantanen’s slashing penalty with 2 1/2 minutes left, but failed to score even with an extra skater after pulling Filip Gustavsson out of the net.

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger had 27 saves. Gustavsson stopped 15 shots.

Johnston’s 44th goal with 4:26 left in the first made it 1-0, and was the only Dallas lead until Robertson scored. Rantanen had the tying goal in the third.

Kaprizov put the Wild up 2-1 with 16 seconds left in the first, then extended that to 3-1 on another power-play goal at the 6:39 mark of the second. Blackwell scored and then assisted on Cameron Hughes’ first career goal for Dallas before Ryan Hartman’s power-play goal with 9 seconds left in the second put Minnesota up 4-3.

Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen never returned after being knocked hard into the boards by Hartman late in the first period. Before that, Heiskanen had hit the puck that deflected off the stick of Joel Ericksson Ek into the face of the Minnesota center who left the ice and also didn’t return the game.

Up next

Wild: Play the second of three consecutive road games Saturday at Nashville, which is trying to stay in a playoff spot in the West.

Stars: Play their home finale Saturday against the New York Rangers, the last-place team in the Eastern Conference.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl