Wild's five quick hits: Bad blood rising, dazzling debuts and a superb goalie show

The longest game in Wild history took 92 minutes, 20 seconds of game time and more than four hours of actual time. It featured a combined 96 saves and 92 hits. And in the end, the Wild defeated the Stars 3-2 in double overtime in Dallas in Game 1 of their NHL Western Conference first-round playoff series. Here are five takeaways from the thriller:

1. Dazzling debuts

Filip Gustavsson and Sam Steel played starring roles in their NHL playoff debuts on Monday night, with Gustavsson making 51 saves and Steel scoring the tying goal and assisting on the double-overtime winner. However, a third Minnesota player appearing in his first professional postseason game made sure the marathon kept going.

Defenseman Brock Faber, the former Gophers captain from Maple Grove, made his playoff debut in only his third NHL game and came up with a huge play nine minutes into the second overtime.

With Dallas pressing for the winner and on a rush into the Wild zone, Stars center Ty Dellandrea took a wrist shot that Gustavsson stopped but gave up a rebound. Left winger Mason Marchment got his stick on the puck and had a gaping net in which to shoot, but at the last moment, Faber dived and extended his stick just enough so the puck ramped over the cage and into the netting, with Marchment looking to the heavens in frustration.

Ryan Hartman scored the winner 3:20 after Faber's key play.

"We talked about how composed he was and how slippery he is,'' Evason said of Faber during the postgame news conference in Dallas. "There were times it looked like maybe he'd lose the puck or not get it out, but he just competes. He's got a lot of strength and skates very well. He certainly didn't look out of place.''

Faber started the game on the third defensive pairing with Jon Merrill. By the third period, he was in a five-defenseman rotation as Evason mainly kept Merrill on the bench.

A two-time Big Ten defensive player of the year, Faber saw four-on-four action alongside Jonas Brodin with Matt Dumba in the penalty box in the second period. Faber finished with a plus-1 rating on 17:58 of ice time, including being on the ice for the winner. He took 29 shifts, blocked three shots and delivered two hits.

2. Goalies put on a show

Gustavsson kept the Wild in the game by making 51 saves, including 38 in the third period and two overtimes. His counterpart, Stars goalie and Lakeville native Jake Oettinger, made 45 saves, including 27 in the first two periods and 18 in the final three.

"He's pretty good, right?'' Evason said of Gustavsson. "Their goalie was fantastic; our goalie was fantastic. Some of the saves that both of them made, it was like nobody was going to score.''

3. Quickly, the series has an edge

It took roughly 28 minutes of Game 1 for the bad blood between the Wild and Stars to boil over, and Dumba was the key factor as the intensity ramped up.

Dumba delivered a shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Joe Pavelski, with the Stars center falling and his helmet hitting the ice. Max Domi took exception and went after Dumba, while Kirill Kaprizov and Dallas defenseman Ryan Suter exchanged shoves. Both Dumba and Domi received roughing penalties, while Domi got a 10-minute misconduct for continuing the skirmish.

Pavelski did not return to the game.

"You don't want to see anybody get hurt, but I'm glad we have video review,'' Evason said. "… Obviously, we believe [the officials] got it right.''

The episode seemed to light a fire under the Wild, and they tied the score 2-2 at 14:25 of the second on Steel's breakaway goal.

The physical play continued through regulation, and late in the third the Wild took exception to Suter repeatedly cross-checking Kaprizov in the ribs, with Foligno and Suter exchanging shoves.

For the game, Dallas finished with 50 hits to the Wild's 42.

4. Faceoffs play a key role

The Stars led the NHL in faceoff percentage at 54.8 during the regular season, while the Wild ranked 26^th at 47.7%. On Monday, the Wild had early success in the circle, winning nine of 16 draws in the first period on their way to taking a 1-0 lead and outshooting Dallas 10-5.

In the second period, however, the Stars started winning draws, which led to them taking the lead. With Hartman off for boarding, Jamie Benn won a draw back to Roope Hintz, who blasted a shot past Gustavsson to knot the score 1-1 at 2:08 and only 3 seconds into the power play. The faceoff win was the Stars' fifth in six tries to open the second, with Pavelski winning three of them.

The Stars made it 2-1 on a power play at 4:13 after Pavelski won a draw back to Miro Heiskanen. The defenseman quickly passed to Jason Robertson, who fired the puck past Gustavsson just 6 seconds into the man advantage. The faceoff win was the Stars' seventh in 10 draws to start the period, and they would win 20 of the 35 draws in the period.

"We can do better there,'' Steel, who went 16-21 on faceoffs, said in a KFXN Radio interview.

The Stars held a 39-31 edge through regulation and 61-47 (56.5%) for the game, led by Benn's 19-8 performance. Evason, though, liked his team's perseverance.

"Those two goals go in, and there was no letdown,'' he said. "That's what our group's done all year. We've talked about that before with hockey teams that there's a sag when something negative happens. Our team doesn't have that in them.''

5. Game 1 success is telling for Wild

How important is winning Game 1 for the Wild? History says it's very important.

The Wild have played in 16 previous playoff series, and when they've won Game 1, they are 2-2 in those series, with triumphs over Colorado in 2003 and St. Louis in 2015. When they've lost Game 1, they are 2-10, with series wins over Vancouver in 2003 and Colorado in 2014.

"We did hang on for a bit there. It was a great hockey game with flows back and forth,'' Evason said. "…. The hockey game had everything. We're happy with the way we held our composure and all that good stuff that people talk about in the playoffs.

"It's a good first step,'' he added. "That is ultimate playoff hockey.''

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.