Johnston’s second-overtime goal lifts Stars past Wild, take series lead

Wyatt Johnston ended a playoff night built on thin margins, redirecting Miro Heiskanen’s point shot at 12:10 of the second overtime to lift the Dallas Stars past the Minnesota Wild, 4-3, and seize a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference first-round series. At Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota, a game that refused to settle became the kind of grind that can tilt a series emotionally as much as it does in the standings.

The winning goal carried the weight of Dallas’ special-teams edge. Johnston, who led the NHL with 27 power-play goals during the regular season, found the finish on a deflection from the slot after Heiskanen created the opening from the point. With Dallas outshooting Minnesota 36-31, the Stars showed how a patient power play can survive long stretches of even hockey and then decide everything with one crease-side touch.

Dallas had to fight back before it ever got to overtime. Matt Duchene tied the game in the third period on a power play, and the goal came seconds after his backcheck on Matt Boldy erased what could have been a short-handed Minnesota chance for a two-goal cushion. That sequence captured the night’s tone: one rush, one stop, one bounce, and the whole game turned again. The Wild had repeatedly pushed ahead and absorbed pressure of their own, but neither side could create enough separation to make the other blink.

The result mattered because it was not just another road win. Dallas entered at 50-20-12 and Minnesota at 46-24-12, records that already suggested a narrow gap, and the game confirmed it over more than 72 minutes of hockey. For Minnesota, the loss meant more than a missed chance in Game 3; it meant another long recovery after a double-overtime battle and another adjustment after letting a late lead slip away. For Dallas, Johnston’s finish could become the series’ emotional hinge, the moment that told both clubs the Stars were willing to outlast every surge and keep forcing the issue until the crease finally opened.