NHL Playoffs: Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild, 4-0: full highlights, final score and more

Game 1 of the Dallas Stars vs Minnesota Wild series ultimately turned out to be everything it was expected to be: a total shutout.

The Dallas Stars welcomed the Minnesota Wild to the American Airlines Center for the first game of an extremely mismatched series of the NHL playoffs. However, a scoreless, Dallas defense-heavy first period conveyed the opposite—that the two teams were more evenly matched than regular season statistics would suggest. The first period ended with Dallas—the Central Division’s greatest offense this season—failing to put any of their 14 shots on goal in the net, and while the Wild only managed to produce two unsuccessful shots, a large portion of the period took place in Dallas’ defensive territory.

With 16:07 remaining in period two, Dallas came alive. Radek Faksa scored the first goal of the series, breaking the game’s ongoing stalemate. Several unsuccessful power plays and shots on goal alter, Jason Spezza added a ridiculous goal, setting Dallas ahead 2-0. Spezza was skating along the right side of the ice and originally faked a slap shot into the net with just over eight minutes remaining in the second period. After skating closer to the center of the faceoff circle, he took a wrist shot and delivered the puck into the upper right corner of Wild’s net.

In the middle of the third period, the Stars got hot yet again. Fourteen minutes in, P Eaves scored on a power play, assisted by Spezza and captain Jamie Benn. Two minutes later, Benn added yet another goal for Dallas in Minnesota’s empty net, finishing off the first game 4-0.

Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen made 22 saves during the game, registering his second career playoff shutout. His first was against the Anaheim Ducks on April 21, 2014. Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves.

Three Stars

Jason Spezza, C Stars

Spezza was unquestionably going to make an impact for Dallas in the playoffs. He kicked off the postseason right with one goal and one assist. 

Radek Faksa, C Stars

Though perhaps not as celebrated as his fellow forwards, Faksa made a name for himself in the Game 1 by ending the Stars’ embarrassing stalemate against the Wild in the second period.

K Lehtonen, G Stars

Though Lehtonen had a less than impressive regular season with a .905 save percentage, he managed to perform quite impressively on the ice in Game 1.

Highlights

Jason Spezza’s snipe of a goal in the second period was, in a word, unreal.

"That Spezza snipe in the 2nd? Unreal. #DALvsMIN #StanleyCuphttps://t.co/ps0dl5XgMY— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) April 15, 2016"

Next Game

The Minnesota Wild will attempt to even the score in Game 2 of their series against the Dallas Stars after losing 4-0 on Saturday, April 16 at 8 pm ET. The game will be aired on NBC Sports Network.

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