Rink Rule: Stars vs. Wild

ST. PAUL, MINN. — The Wild were winless in its last four games, managing just two extra-session points in a three-game road trip earlier in the week. They came back home staring at five games left on the schedule and still in a position to clinch a wild card spot in the playoffs.

It took a little extra time, but the Wild got the two points it desperately needed in a 3-2 overtime victory over the division rival Dallas Stars on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. Here are five rules recapping their latest win:

1. Marco Rossi finished a highlight-reel play in overtime for his 24th goal of the season.

Only 13 seconds into overtime, Matt Boldy was tripped up by Stars’ goal scorer Jason Roberston to put the Wild on a power play.

That gave the Wild a 4-on-3 advantage. Boldy and Mats Zuccarello cycled the puck beautifully, with Zuccarello’s shot tipped in on the back door by Rossi at 58 seconds of overtime.

“Try to be open, and Zuccy is going to find you,” said Rossi, who also recorded an assist in the game.

Boldy offered more on how the winner developed, calling it “an unbelievable play by Zuccy.”

“Great battle on the zone entry,” Boldy said. “They played that about as good as they possibly could. The best I’ve ever seen any 4-on-3 play it. Great battle won there and then to get set up. You give the puck to the best playmaker on the team, and he makes no mistake.”

The Wild’s top line accounted for all three goals. Yes, that’s the top line of Marcus Foligno and Boldy on the wings with Rossi at center.

“Today was a good start to a big week for us,” said John Hynes.

2. Matt Boldy whacks his way to a three-point game.

Dallas took a 1-0 lead early in the game on Robertson’s 34th goal of the season. The score remained the same at the second intermission. But the Wild talked afterward about how they played well, even if the results didn’t always show up on the scoreboard.

“We had a really good game,” Rossi said. “Even the first and second period was good. Maybe the puck bounces didn’t go our way. But we played the right way and obviously go out goals in that third period.”

That started with Boldy tying the game about three minutes into the third period when he whacked the puck into the net as he was falling to his knees in the slot. He got up and emphatically celebrated his team-leading 26th goal of the season.

“Just kind of a bouncing puck that found some free ice, and I just tried to hit it as hard as I could,” Boldy said. “Got lucky it went in.”

Less than two minutes later, Foligno punched in a goal in the crease to give the Wild a 2-1 lead five minutes into the third. Boldy had the second assist on the play, as he did on Rossi’s winner.

It’s the sixth game this season in which Boldy (26-41—67) has scored three-or-more points in a game.

“I thought mentally we were in this game right from the start,” Boldy said.

3. The Wild’s penalty kill did its job.

The penalty kill has taken its fair share of lumps and criticism this season. There was a point where skating down a man might as well have come with an automatic goal for the opposing team, and quickly. Teams won faceoffs in their offensive zones and scored within the first 10 seconds of power plays against the Wild.

By the numbers, the Wild’s penalty kill is still one of the worst. Its 72.2% (54 goals allowed on 194 attempts) mark coming into Sunday’s game ranked 31st in the NHL. That ranking is the same on home ice at 69.1% (25 goals on 81 attempts) before Sunday.

The PK came into play on its New York road trip Friday against the Islanders. The Wild trailed just 2-1 headed into the third period but allowed a goal on the kill for a two-goal margin.

But against Dallas, with a road power play ranked ninth in the NHL coming in, the Wild went 4-for-4. Hynes commented on the Wild’s urgency in the play on the kill, along with strong attention to detail.

“I thought we got saves at the right times from Gus,” Hynes said. “We were strong on our clears. That’s the recipe.”

First, the Wild needed to kill a Boldy boarding penalty only eight seconds into the game. They also killed off two tripping penalties in the third period with 9:05 left in regulation. The Wild’s killers didn’t allow much for the Stars with the man advantage.

“The guys are being smarter with shares and things like that in our zone with the penalty kill,” Foligno said. “So, I just feel like it’s a lot of confidence.”

Unfortunately, about 10 seconds after that first penalty in the third period expired, the Stars tied the game with a shot off Zach Bogosian’s leg. A tie game with 3:27 left in regulation, and this time Brock Faber went to the box for tripping. But the Wild killed that one off, too, and eventually skated into overtime after securing a point.

“The PK guys stepped up when they needed to,” said Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson. “Three minutes on the clock is not an easy task to do. We needed to have a kill, and everyone did it.”

4. Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves on the way to winning his 30th game of the season.

Gustavsson improved to 30-18-6 this season. He’s remained consistent with his game during this recent stretch the last month or so, as the Wild have relied on him heavily.

While the Wild have struggled to find success on home ice this season, Gustavsson is 17-11-1 at Xcel Energy Center in 2024-25. He’s also the fifth goaltender in franchise history to win 30 games in a season. Devan Dubnyk did it four times, Nicklas Backstrom twice, and Cam Talbot and Manny Fernandez also each won 30 games in a season.

“I wish I could play every game,” Gustavsson said. “It’s something I love to do, and I wish I can continue doing it.”

5. The victory broke a four-game winless streak for the Wild.

Since the start of March, the Wild stepped onto the ice Sunday with a 7-7-3 record, earning 17 points in 17 games as they fight to keep pace in the standings and hold onto a wild card spot.

But a rough road trip out east this past week left the Wild with an 0-2-2 stretch even since their inspired victory over the Washington Capitals on home ice March 27, a game known more for its finish when Alex Ovechkin – who made history by scoring his 895th career NHL goal Sunday – made sure his team shook hands with Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury after the game.

From there, the Wild lost 5-2 to New Jersey, then in a shootout at the Devils’ home, followed by an overtime loss at the Rangers. A rough 3-1 loss at the Islanders on Friday generated some pointed and candid comments from the Wild locker room postgame.

But as Foligno said after Sunday’s game, the Wild needed to stop talking about what they need to do and just show up and play during this crucial time of year, which now has four games remaining in the regular season.

“We’ve just got to show up and play,” Foligno said. “Just sick of the meetings, sick of the motivational speeches. We know we have it in here. It’s just getting our head around it and doing it for a full 60.”

The Wild have 91 points in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. St. Louis is just ahead with 93 points; the Blues can’t lose lately, having won 12 games in a row. Calgary is chasing the Wild with 85 points. The Wild play at home again Wednesday vs. San Jose.

“It’s been a grind, but we’re excited we’re in the driver’s seat still,” Foligno said. “Our fate’s in our hands.”