The Dallas Stars bounced back from a Game 1 blowout to even their Western Conference first-round playoff series with the Minnesota Wild, posting a 4-2 victory Monday night at American Airlines Center.
Wyatt Johnston scored twice for the Stars, including a fluky first-period goal that ricocheted off the end boards and off Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt’s skate, and an empty-netter with 50 seconds left to seal the win. Matt Duchene added the tiebreaking power-play goal and an assist, while Jason Robertson also scored. Jake Oettinger made 28 saves in the Dallas net.
The Stars trailed 1-0 early but responded with a much stronger effort after Minnesota routed them 6-1 in Game 1 on April 18. Brock Faber scored both goals for the Wild.
GAME 2 IS OURS!!!!! pic.twitter.com/XPeELTGuKI
— x - Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) April 21, 2026
Dallas improved to 50-20-12 in the regular season and now heads north for Game 3 on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. CT at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1.
The win marked the Stars’ first playoff victory of the 2026 postseason and gave head coach Peter DeBoer his first playoff win with the team in this series. Minnesota was without forward Mats Zuccarello due to an upper-body injury and lost forward Yakov Trenin to a hit in the first period.
Fans packed American Airlines Center for the must-win home game, and the Stars delivered the response many expected from the Central Division’s No. 2 seed.
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