Stars-Wild Series Preview.

 2C Dallas vs Minnesota 3C

We are back with another Playoff preview here on the ETEH Blog in 2026, so today we are looking at the 1st Series that was locked in the Western Conference playoff picture, as we're going to be looking at the 2nd and 3rd teams in the Central as Dallas who had another superb regular season that currently has them boasting one of the best records in the NHL take on the Minnesota Wild who had a great season but being in argubly the best division in hockey left them being 3rd in the Central and starting the series against Dallas on the road.

History of Rivalry Between teams in playoffs:

Now if you look at the history of these two teams playing in the playoffs, they haven't actually played against each other a ton of times in the postseason, as they do have 2 prevoius meetings in the postseason and both were in the last 10 years as the Stars won the first series in 6 games back in the 2016 season when they won the division and then 3 years ago once again in the 2v3 matchup they played, with Dallas once again coming out on top in 6 games, so both of these prevoius series went Dallas way in 6 games and they own the lead in the playoff matchups between these two, so it will be interesting to see if the Wild get their 1st playoff series win vs Dallas or if the Stars will go 3 for 3 in the postseason against the Wild. 

Season Series Record: 

Dallas 2-1-1 13-13-E

Minnesota 2-2-0 13-13-E

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Each teams X-Factors: Hryckowian vs Q.Hughes

Next we go over to the two teams X-Factors in my opinion for this series and the two X-Factors in my eyes is elite Wild defender Quinn Hughes and Stars rough and tumble rookie Justin Hryckowian. Now for the Wild they have a few players who can be difference makers in a series such as Wild superstar Kaprizov and Boldy but I think the X-Factor for the Wild and something they have t had the last few years and the last time they played Dallas is Quinn Hughes, now Hughes is a Norris caliber defender who has been setting Wild records left and right while only playing three quarters of a season in Minnesota and has given the Wild a elite playmaking defender, so if Hughes plays to the level we all know he can then I think that might tip the scales Minnesota’s way, now on the flip side I think there are a ton of X-Factors for the Stars but the one I am watching most has to be Stars rookie Hryckowian, he burst onto the scene this year and provide that he is a really capable 3rd line forward, now the Stars depth isn’t what it was the past few years so I feel if Hryckowian can be a solid 3rd liner and produce well and be a pest to play against and get under the Wild skin, I feel that presence in the bottom six may tip the scales Dallas way but those in my opinion are the two X-Factors.

Which teams are best at 3 Positions:

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Offense: now when it comes to which of these two teams has the better offense, they both have really solid forward groups with elite top sixes and solid bottom sixes but in my opinion I would give the edge to the Wild as with the Stars not having Seguin and being a little banged up I feel the depth isn’t slightly better for the Wild and would be a advantage in round 1, so both have good and comparable offenses but I will give the slight edge to the Wild.

Defence: on the defensive side of the puck I feel it is once again pretty tight as both teams when healthy have stacked bluelines, now it does effect who has the advantage depending on Heiskanen’s health as if Heiskanen isn’t good to go then the Wild have the far better defence, however if Heiskanen can go game 1 or game 2 then I think the gap shrinks but just given how good the Wild D Corp looks with Hughes I would still give the Wild the defensive advantage as I just think their defence is better then Dallas. 

Goaltending: while in net I feel the clear cut advantage here is to Dallas, Jake Oettinger is a top 10 goalie in the NHL and one of the best and no offence to either Gustavsson or Wallstedt who both look like good goalies in their own right, but I feel Oettinger is way better then either Wild goalie and I would give the Stars the advantage in net.

Biggest on Ice Matchup: Wild PP vs Stars PP

So when it comes to the biggest matchup in my eyes in this series for the Stars and Wild, I would have to go over to the special teams and say the biggest matchup is the Wild's PP vs Dallas PP, now these two teams have had really good offences this year as the Stars are the 2nd rate offensive team and the Wild are the 10th and big parts of both teams offences has been the power play as the Stars boast the 2nd best power play unit and the Wild have the 3rd best, so I feel the team who wins this series will be the team who has the better executed power play as I feel if one of the power plays dries up then their offence will follow, so there are a lot of interesting matchups but the biggest one in my eyes is the power play matchup. 

Predictions:

Now when it comes to my predictions for this series, I think this one will be a nail bitter as these two teams have been so close all season long and play each other really well and unlike some of the other series we talk about here I gave a feeling this one may go the distance, but in my personal opinion, I am taking my cup favourites here in the Minnesota Wild, I do think these two teams stack up well but I just feel the Stars don’t have enough depth this year to go toe to toe with this Wild team and after reaching the WCF 3 straight years I feel there will be some wear and tear on their bodies that I don’t think people believe will be much of a problem for the Stars but I do, so in my eyes with the Stars maybe having more wear and tear then Minnesota and not being as deep this year, I am going to take Minnesota in 6 games to knock off the Stars and reach round 2 for the first time in over a decade.