Wild at Stars
It will be a meeting of the past and the present when the Central Division champion Dallas Stars open the postseason against the visiting Minnesota Wild on Thursday night in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series. The Stars, the top seed in the Western Conference, played 26 seasons in Minnesota before bolting the state and relocating to Texas in 1993.
The ties to the past aside, Dallas may be more interested in another history - making a deep run in only its second postseason appearance in the past eight seasons. The Stars, who were bounced in the opening round two years ago, could receive a huge boost with the potential return of second-leading scorer Tyler Seguin, who missed the final 10 games of the regular season. The situation is just the opposite for the Wild, who will be without top goal scorer Zach Parise for at least the first two games. Dallas won four of the five regular-season matchups - three in overtime - and prevailed in all three meetings at Minnesota.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TVAS3, Sportsnet360, FSN North/FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE WILD (38-33-11): Parise, who scored 25 goals and averaged 29 tallies over the past three seasons, aggravated a back injury and is listed out as indefinitely, prompting goaltender Devan Dubnyk to term his absence "an extraordinary loss for us." Forward Thomas Vanek, an 18-goal scorer, is dealing with an upper-body injury and also will miss at least the first two games while center Erik Haula (14 goals) will travel with the team to Dallas but already has been ruled out for the series opener. Dubnyk sparked last season's run to the playoffs and came on strong over the second half this year, but he lost his final four decisions following a six-start winning streak.
ABOUT THE STARS (50-23-9): Seguin, who was within reach of matching his career-high total of 37 goals when his Achilles tendon was sliced by a skate on March 17, practiced fully Wednesday and has been cleared to play, but coach Lindy Ruff said "First is health" when determining his availability. Dallas doesn't lack for firepower with captain Jamie Benn finishing second in scoring with 89 points after leading the NHL last season while Jason Spezza matched Seguin with 33 tallies and Patrick Sharp scored 20 times. Ruff has not settled on one goaltender, alternating the tandem of Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen, who each registered 25 victories this season.
OVERTIME
1. Niemi has the stronger career numbers against the Wild with a 10-4-2 record and 1.94 goals-against average.
2. Dubnyk was 1-1-1 with eight goals allowed in three games versus Dallas this season.
3. Benn notched three goals and nine points in the five games versus the Wild this season in 2015-16.