Wild vs. Stars: Key players and more will decide how the NHL playoff series will be won

Having advanced to the postseason for the 10^th time in the past 11 years, the Wild will try to accomplish something they haven't done since 2015 — win a playoff series. To break that streak of six consecutive first-round exits, the Wild — the third-place team in the Central Division — must defeat the second-place Dallas Stars. The teams split four regular-season meetings, with Minnesota winning twice in shootouts and Dallas prevailing twice by 4-1 scores. Here's a look at how the teams stack up:

Kirill Kaprizov, left wing: Limited to 67 games because of a lower-body injury suffered March 8, Kaprizov still scored 40 goals and assisted on 35. The Russian showed he can be a difference-maker in the playoffs by scoring seven goals in six games last year.

Matt Boldy, left wing: The 22-year-old, who's called "49 Sheets" by teammates, showed why the Wild gave him a seven-year, $49 million contract extension by scoring 16 of his 31 goals since March 8. Boldy has been especially effective since the addition of Marcus Johansson.

Jared Spurgeon, defense: The Wild's captain has had playoff success — his tying goal late in the third period of Game 7 vs. Colorado in 2014 paved the way for Nino Niederreiter's OT winner — but he's been limited to three assists in each of the past two first-round exits.

Mats Zuccarello, right wing: Though he has 22 goals and 45 assists this season, the veteran hasn't scored since March 12 and has only six goals since Jan. 1. The return to form of Kaprizov should help Zuccarello, who has one goal and seven assists in 17 playoff games with the Wild.

Joel Eriksson Ek, center: The Wild's best two-way player suffered a lower-body injury when struck by a puck on April 6 and originally was listed as week-to-week. However, he went through 30- and 45-minute skating sessions on Saturday and Sunday and accompanied the team on its trip to Dallas.

Offense: The Wild averaged 2.91 goals per game this season, significantly down from their 3.72 of 2021-22. But during their 16-1-4 stretch from Feb. 17 through March, they had nine games of four or more goals. Only Kaprizov, Boldy, Eriksson Ek and Zuccarello have scored more than 20 goals, so depth is a concern.

Defense: The Wild allowed 2.67 goals per game, which ranked tied for sixth in the NHL. Last season, they gave up 3.04 per game, so this team might be better suited for tight playoff games. Keep an eye on Brock Faber, the former Gopher who's needed only two NHL games to move into a third-pairing role.

Special teams: The Wild's power play ranked 15^th in the NHL at 21.43%, while their penalty kill was 19^th (82.03%). The Wild ranked third in the league with 14 shorthanded goals, including four by Frederick Gaudreau.

Goaltending: This will be the key decision for coach Dean Evason, who has two options in Filip Gustavsson, who's 22-9-7 with a 2.10 goals-against average and .931 save percentage (both second in the NHL), and veteran Marc-Andre Fleury (24-16-4, 2.85, .908).

Forwards

Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Johansson-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy

Gustav Nyquist-Sam Steel-Marcus Foligno

Brandon Duhaime-Conor Dewar-Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill/Alex Goligoski-Brock Faber

Goalies

Filip Gustavsson/Marc-Andre Fleury

Injuries: Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body, day-to-day), John Klingberg (lower body, day-to-day), Oskar Sundqvist (lower body, day-to-day), Mason Shaw (knee, out).

Jason Robertson, left wing: The fourth-year pro tied for sixth in the NHL in scoring with 109 points on 46 goals and 63 assists. He's been on a tear lately, collecting 18 points over the past eight games with six multipoint efforts. His plus-37 rating ranked seventh in the league.

Joe Pavelski, right wing: The 38-year-old Wisconsin native just keeps producing, amassing 28 goals and 49 assists while surpassing 1,000 career points this season. He's fourth in the NHL with a plus-42 rating while still averaging 17:43 of ice time.

Jake Oettinger, goalie: The former Lakeville North star has had a breakthrough season, going 37-11-11 with a 2.37 GAA, .919 save percentage and five shutouts. Oettinger endured a rough stretch in March when he gave up 30 goals in an eight-game span, but he closed the season by allowing three goals in his final four starts.

Ryan Suter, defense: The former Wild player is in his second season with the Stars after having his contract bought out by Minnesota following the 2020-21 season. Suter's three goals were his fewest in a full season since 2014-15, and his 22 assists are his fewest in a full season since 2006-07.

Miro Heiskanen, defense: Heiskanen finished the regular season on a roll with 11 points in the final eight games. He's also a standout on the power play, with 32 of his 62 assists coming with the man advantage. At 25:29 of ice time per game, Heiskanen ranked sixth in the NHL.

Offense: Led by the top line of Roope Hintz centering Robertson and Pavelski, the Stars average 3.43 goals per game, which ranked seventh in the NHL. They have six players with 20 or more goals and five with 30 or more assists.

Defense: Dallas gave up an average of 2.62 goals per game in the regular season, good for third in the league. Their season-ending six-game win streak relied largely on defense, with opponents scoring only six goals in that span.

Goaltending: Oettinger is 2-0-1 against the Wild this season, giving up a total of seven goals, including four in Minnesota's 6-5 shootout win in which he was pulled after two periods. In the final three games against the Wild, Oettinger gave up a combined three goals.

Special teams: Robertson, Pavelski and Jamie Benn each scored 13 power-play goals in the regular season, helping the Stars rank fifth in the league at 25%. Their penalty kill is even better, ranking third in the NHL at 83.5%.

Forwards

Jason Robertson-Roope Hintz-Joe Pavelski

Jamie Benn-Wyatt Johnston-Evgenii Dadonov

Max Domi-Tyler Seguin-Mason Marchment

Joel Kiviranta-Radek Faksa-Ty Dellandrea

Defense

Ryan Suter-Miro Heiskanen

Esa Lindell-Jani Hakanpaa

Thomas Harley-Colin Miller

Goalies

Jake Oettinger, Scott Wedgewood

Injuries

None

(C3) WILD vs. (C2) DALLAS

Best-of-seven series

Monday: at Dallas, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 and BSN

Wednesday: at Dallas, 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 and BSNX

Friday: at Xcel Energy Center, 8:30 p.m., TBS and TBA

Sunday: at Xcel Energy Center, 5:30 p.m., TBS and BSN

Tuesday, April 25: if necessary, at Dallas, TBD

Friday, April 28: if necessary, at Xcel Energy Center, TBD

Sunday, April 30: if necessary, at Dallas, TBD