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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Wyatt Johnston scored on a power-play deflection at 12:10 of the second overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild early Thursday for a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.
Matt Duchene tied it for Dallas on a power play midway through the third period, seconds after his backcheck on Matt Boldy averted a short-handed goal that would've put Minnesota up by two.
After the Wild failed to convert two overtime power plays, finishing 1 for 7 with the man advantage, the Stars took advantage of their opportunity after Danila Yurov's delay-of-game penalty. Miro Heiskanen's shot was knocked in by Johnston for his third goal in three games — and his sixth winning goal 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," said Johnston, who had a career-high 45 goals during the regular season.
The game ended at 12:54 a.m.
Radek Faksa had a close-range chance in the second overtime he poked behind Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, but the puck skidded straight across the crease.
Wallstedt polished off the first Stars' power play by snapping his glove around Mikko Rantanen's shot and smothering Esa Lindell's bad-angle attempt. Johnston then spoiled a brilliant 32-save performance by Wallstedt with his deflection.
"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."
Seconds after the audible thump from Stars goalie Jake Oettinger's blocker save on Brock Faber's slap shot, the Wild had another prime opportunity to win it in the first overtime when Hughes drew a tripping penalty on Sam Steel. But even with Faksa playing most of that penalty kill without a stick, the Wild failed to generate much pressure. Jamie Benn's holding penalty on Nick Foligno gave them another try to crack Oettinger, who finished with 28 saves.
"I had my head down, looking out of one eye, just like, 'Good Lord, get through this,'" Duchene said.
The Wild killed four penalties between Rantanen's power play tip-in just 1:25 into the game and Duchene's crowd-quieting snap shot that slipped between defenseman Jared Spurgeon and the near post. That included 40 seconds of a 5-on-3 after Boldy's delay-of-game penalty late in the second period.
As soon as he left the box, Spurgeon saw an opening to start a rush that Michael McCarron finished with his first goal in the NHL playoffs to give the Wild a 3-2 lead.
Jason Robertson scored after a slick stretch pass by Duchene to put the Stars up 2-0 in the first period.
Marcus Johansson scored on a power play to start the rally less than five minutes later, and Joel Eriksson Ek had the tying goal in the second after a brilliant setup by Boldy. The U.S. Olympian, who had a career-high 42 goals during the regular season, weaved through four Stars skaters and drew a crowd behind the net before zipping the puck back into the slot for Eriksson Ek to knock in.
Entering these playoffs, the winner of Game 3 after a split of the first two games in a best-of-seven went on to win the series nearly two-thirds of the time (245 of 369) in NHL history.
The Wild, who have not advanced in the postseason since 2015, fell on the flip side of that ratio in each of their last three appearances. They won Game 3 to go up 2-1 on Vegas last year, on Dallas in 2023 and on St. Louis in 2022, before being eliminated with three straight losses every time.
This was the third time in Wild history they reached double overtime, including a 3-2 win at Dallas in Game 1 of their first-round series with the Stars in 2023.
The Wild, who have a 4-14 series record in their underwhelming playoff history, 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."
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