THE FIRST-ROUND FOE

The Wild will play either the Dallas Stars or the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the playoffs. The Wild is locked into the eighth spot (second wild card) in the Western Conference and will play the team with the West's best record.

• Dallas and St. Louis have identical 49-23-9 records, with 107 points. Dallas owns the tiebreaker.

• The Stars play host to Nashville at 7 p.m. Saturday; the Blues play host to Washington at the same time. (The Wild plays Calgary at 6 p.m.)

• If Dallas wins, it will play the Wild.

• If Dallas and Chicago both lose in regulation, or both teams lose in overtime or a shootout, Dallas will be the No. 1 seed and play the Wild.

• If the Stars lose in regulation, the Wild would play the Blues if St. Louis at least goes to overtime against the Capitals.

• If the Stars lose in overtime or a shootout, the Blues must beat the Capitals for the Wild to play St. Louis.

• A Stars-Wild series is likely to start in Thursday in Dallas; a Blues-Wild series is likely to start Wednesday in St. Louis.