First-round opponent Dallas Stars
Record: 50-23-7 record and 109 points to win the Central Division and the Western Conference.
Record vs. Wild: Stars went 4-1, with three wins in 3-on-3 OT.
Red-hot: The Stars are 29-11-2 at home and are 12-3-2 in their past 17 overall. Entering Saturday's play, they were the most prolific team in the NHL at 3.23 goals per game but allowed the 11th-most goals at 2.79 per game. They had the NHL's fifth-best power play at 22.1 percent and 10th-best penalty kill at 82.4 percent.
Star power: Captain Jamie Benn is the reigning Art Ross Trophy winner and ranked second in the league with a career-high 89 points. He is second in the NHL with 41 goals, the first Stars player to eclipse the 40-goal mark since Mike Modano registered 50 goals during the 1993-94 season. Seventeen of his goals have come on the power play. Jason Spezza and Tyler Seguin also have hit the 30-goal mark. John Klingberg ranked fifth among NHL defensemen with 58 points. The Stars are the first team to have three or more 30-goal scorers in the same season since the 2011-12 New Jersey Devils. Seguin is expected to practice Monday and could return from Achilles' tendon injury.
Tidbits: The Wild is 23-27-1 all-time vs. the Stars, 7-17-7 on the road. Since 2003-04, the Wild's 4-15-6 record in Dallas is its worst road points percentage against any opponent (.280). This is the Wild's first postseason meeting against the former North Stars.
MICHAEL RUSSO
