The Minnesota Wild find themselves in a position they haven’t experienced in nearly a decade — one win away from advancing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Minnesota returns to their home ice Thursday evening holding a 3-2 series advantage over the Dallas Stars, seeking to eliminate their opponents and reach the second round for the first time since 2015.
“I think it’s important just to stay calm. You know, don’t overthink it,” said Mats Zuccarello, the veteran forward who has spent seven seasons with Minnesota during his 16-year NHL career. “Don’t read whatever you guys (media) say about we haven’t gotten out of the first round in a couple of years. Just calm and collected.”
The 38-year-old Zuccarello made his presence felt immediately upon returning from a three-game injury absence, netting the opening goal less than four minutes into Tuesday’s contest in Dallas. Minnesota capitalized on that early momentum to secure a 4-2 victory, marking their 12th playoff appearance across 14 seasons.
This represents only the second time in franchise history that Minnesota has held a 3-2 series advantage, with their previous occurrence coming during that successful 2015 campaign when they defeated St. Louis in six games. Since then, the Wild have endured nine straight playoff series defeats, including losses to these same Stars in both 2016 and 2023.
Forward Marcus Foligno, now in his ninth season, believes this team possesses different qualities than previous versions. “We’ve got to just look to control our emotions in Game 6 and in front of our home crowd, a place where we had a good feeling leaving last time,” Foligno explained. “I think it’s a little bit different. I think we have a lot of leadership and guys that are experienced. … It’s a close group but a really hard working group and a confident one right now.”
Among current roster members, only team captain Jared Spurgeon and defenseman Jonas Brodin participated in Minnesota’s last playoff series triumph. Spurgeon, then 25 years old and in his fifth season, has now spent all 16 of his NHL campaigns with the same organization. However, Brodin’s availability for Thursday’s potential series-clinching game remains questionable after he sustained a lower-body injury during Game 5.
Should Minnesota fail to close out the series on home ice — where they previously captured Game 4 in overtime — the teams would meet for a decisive seventh game Saturday back in Dallas.
The eventual series victor will face the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the Central Division, a well-rested opponent that completed a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Kings last Sunday.
Star forward Kirill Kaprizov contributed two assists during Tuesday’s victory, just two days following his 29th birthday celebration, before adding an empty-net goal in the final two minutes. That second goal of the series marked his 17th career playoff score, establishing a new franchise record by surpassing Zach Parise’s previous mark. Kaprizov also broke Parise’s record for most multi-point playoff performances with his ninth such game.
Rising star Matt Boldy, the 25-year-old forward, delivered the game-winning power-play goal in the second period’s closing minute, after officials had previously disallowed an earlier score due to goaltender interference.
Rookie netminder Jesper Wallstedt, the 23-year-old who has earned the starting role over Filip Gustavsson throughout this series, made 20 saves in Game 5. The young goaltender has been particularly effective in even-strength situations, allowing Dallas just three goals during five-on-five play across the entire series.
“We’re very confident of where we’re at. … Now we get to bring the series home,” Wallstedt said. “I’ve never played in a game of that type of magnitude. I’m very excited. I’m looking forward to it so much.”
