- Matt Boldy had two goals and an assist as Minnesota routed Dallas 6-1 in Game 1.
- Jesper Wallstedt stopped 27 of 28 shots in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut.
- Read below for the full scoring breakdown and video of the Wild’s dominant night.
DALLAS – Matt Boldy buried two goals and set up another as the Minnesota Wild stomped the Dallas Stars 6-1 in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round on Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
Boldy opened the scoring sequence with a feed to Joel Eriksson Ek at 5:35 of the first period. Minnesota buried four unanswered before Dallas got on the board.
Eriksson Ek tallied twice on the power play. Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and two assists. Ryan Hartman chipped in a goal and a helper. Mats Zuccarello piled up three assists from the wall.
Jesper Wallstedt made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut and looked the part. The rookie stopped 27 of 28 shots and only gave up a Jason Robertson power play goal in the first period. Minnesota handed him the Game 1 start over Filip Gustavsson, and he rewarded the call.
The video above tells the story. Wallstedt tracked pucks cleanly through traffic, and Minnesota’s top line controlled pace from the opening shift.
Dallas never got footing. Jake Oettinger gave up five goals before being pulled for the empty-netter. The Stars played without Roope Hintz, and Miro Heiskanen was also unavailable, both nursing injuries that Minnesota knew about heading in.
Boldy’s second goal, at 6:30 of the second period, came on a loose puck that deflected off Thomas Harley and sat in the blue paint. He tapped in an empty-netter at 16:52 to close the book.
Game 2 goes Monday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Minnesota earned the No. 3 seed in the Central, while Dallas finished No. 2.
