Wild's three-game winning streak ends with shutout loss to Stars

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 24, 2025

Published in Hockey

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If the start of a challenging week is any indication of what’s to come, the Minnesota Wild’s margin of error will be slight.

They were airtight until back-to-back shifts late in the second period when the Stars pulled away en route to a 3-0 victory Monday night at Dallas’ American Airlines Center that ended the Wild’s three-game winning streak.

The Wild will be back in action Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center against the Vegas Golden Knights for a potential first-round playoff preview.

Dallas scored twice in 58 seconds during the second period, including on the power play, and goaltender Jake Oettinger made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season and 12th of his NHL career; he improved to 7-0-2 vs. the Wild, who couldn’t mount another two-goal, third period comeback against the Stars after rallying 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 27 to defeat their Central Division rival.

This time, the Wild fell behind at 15:01 of the second when Wyatt Johnston tipped in Thomas Harley’s shot on the power play as Roope Hintz set a screen in front of Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson.

That deficit doubled by 15:59 after Matt Duchene wove a shot through traffic from inside the right faceoff circle.

Mason Marchment added an empty-netter with 43 seconds to go.

Gustavsson, in a career-high seventh straight start, finished with 26 saves after being named the NHL’s First Star of the Week for his 3-0 run in which he stopped 82 of 84 shots.

This was the sixth game during Gustavsson’s last eight that he limited the other team to two or fewer goals, but the run support he received recently in victories over the Kings, Kraken and Sabres never arrived.

The shutout, though, wasn’t due to a lack of try: The Wild had a 6-0 shot advantage to begin the first, with Dallas not registering its first until it was the penalty kill almost halfway through the period.

Once the Stars did apply more pressure, Gustavsson was ready, poke-checking the puck away from Mikko Rantanen to thwart his breakaway and then denying former Wild forward Mikael Granlund in tight after a Wild turnover deep in their end.

Play turned choppy near the end of the first after both teams traded penalties, and the Wild started the second on a 4-on-3 power play but couldn’t capitalize. Overall, they went 0 for 4 and blanked on nine shots. Dallas was 1 for 4.

Both sides were also getting stymied at even strength.

Jon Merrill broke up an attempted 2-on-1 pass by Marchment – the Wild sticking with the stingy style that suits them, especially when they’re without key players.

Aside from Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek still being on the mend, Marcus Foligno (upper-body injury) sat out a fourth consecutive game. Also missing was Jonas Brodin; the defenseman didn’t reaggravate the lower-body injury that kept him out nine games until he returned Saturday in the 4-1 victory over Buffalo, but the Wild are being mindful of Brodin’s situation after being off for so long. He’s considered day-to-day.

Declan Chisholm took Brodin’s spot in the lineup, but Chisholm didn’t finish the game.

His exit left the Wild shorthanded on defense but aside from those two shifts late in the second, they kept the Stars and their sixth-ranked offense in check.

But this test against the NHL’s highest-scoring teams is just beginning.

After hosting Vegas, which has tallied the fifth-most goals, the Wild will take on Alex Ovechkin and No.1 Washington on Thursday as Ovechkin chases Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record.

The Wild are still the Western Conference’s first wild-card seed, with 85 points, but St. Louis is only four points behind after the Blues’ six-game win streak.

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