NHL Playoffs: Stars vs. Wild Game 1 live stream: Watch online

Dallas Stars vs Minnesota Wild

Central Division leaders the Dallas Stars welcome the Minnesota Wild to the American Airlines Center tonight for what will prove to be the most unequal first-round series in the NHL playoffs.

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Led by the brilliant talent of captain Jamie Benn, the Stars’ offense is sure to be the primary players in tonight’s action. Scoring is no difficulty for Dallas, who finished the regular season with a whopping 265 goals, second place in the league. Forwards Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp and Cody Eakin join Benn in the front lines to form a dominant powerhouse all teams in their division failed to conquer. Whether or not Benn’s second-in-command on the offense, Tyler Seguin, will return to the ice after sustaining an injury to his Achilles tendon on March 18 will be a game-time decision that Wild fans and players alike should fear.

Minnesota stumbled into the Western Conference playoffs after a five-game losing streak and injuries that deprive them of valuable left winger Zach Parise for Game 1. Wild will need to count on center Erik Haula to carry the offense and maintain possession, against Dallas’ offense.

Both teams, however, are somewhat evenly matched in the net. Neither the Stars—with Kari Lehtonen and Antii Nieme—nor the Wild—with Devan Dubnyk—have solid, reliable goaltenders. The trio can only produce save percentages .906, .905, and .886, respectively. The dominance of Dallas’ offense, however, gives the Wild more reason to pray that Dubnyk has a good night.

Game 1 airs tonight (Thursday) on NBC Sports Network at 9:30 PM EST.

Date: Thursday, April 14
Start Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
Location: Dallas, TX
Stadium: American Airlines Center
TV Info: NBC Sports Network
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra

For more coverage of the NHL Playoffs, make sure to check out our NHL hub page.