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It looks to be a fun night of Stanley Cup playoff hockey with two Western Conference first-round Game 6s, and I’ll focus on the first matchup of the doubleheader with Dallas visiting Minnesota in a 7:30 ET puck drop. The Wild have a chance to win a round for the first time in more than a decade, and I think they do avoid a trip back to Texas for a possible Game 7 on Saturday.

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FanDuel same-game parlay (+111)

  • Wild Money Line
  • Alt Under 7.5

This was arguably the most evenly matched Round 1 series in either conference, with Dallas only a slight -120 favorite when it opened, favored simply for owning home-ice advantage. Other than a surprise 6-1 road win by Minnesota in the opener, each game has been tight.

It was no sure thing that Jesper Wallstedt would be the Wild No. 1 netminder entering the playoffs over Filip Gustavsson, but Wallstedt has been the difference in back-to-back Minnesota wins. The Swede has stopped 63 of 67 shots in that span; he got help in Game 5 on Tuesday in the 4-2 victory with 26 blocked shots in front of him.

After missing the previous three games injured, 38-year-old Mats Zuccarello of the Wild scored the first goal of Game 5 to become the second-oldest goalscorer in franchise playoff history. Kirill Kaprizov was the No. 1 star with a goal and two assists for his ninth career multi-point game in the playoffs to pass Zach Parise for the most in team history.

The only other time Minnesota has had a 3-2 series lead was the first round in 2015, when it beat St. Louis in six games. The Wild have since lost nine consecutive playoff series, including to the Stars in 2016 and 2023.

“We’ve got to just look to control our emotions in Game 6 and in front of our home crowd, a place where we had a good feeling leaving last time,” mentioned forward Marcus Foligno mentioned. “I think it’s a little bit different. I think we have a lot of leadership and guys that are experienced. … It’s a close group but a really hard-working group and a confident one right now.”

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Only two current Wild players — defensemen Jared Spurgeon (captain) and Jonas Brodin — were on the team when it last advanced in 2015. However, Brodin is in question for tonight after leaving Game 5 injured. He’s a hockey player, I’m sure he will go if at all possible.

One bright spot for Dallas in Game 5 was Jason Robertson with another goal; he now has an eight-game playoff goal streak (nine total goals) dating to Game 3 of the 2025 Western Conference Finals. Robertson also passed Steve Payne (four games, 1981) for the longest postseason-opening goal streak in Stars/North Stars history. Robertson is the +125 anytime goal-scoring favorite tonight. Six in a row would mark the longest goal streak at any point in a playoff year in team annals.

The biggest reason why the Stars are slumping lately? They have not scored a 5-on-5 goal in the past three games. In the series, the Stars have nine power-play goals – they have scored at least one power-play goal in five straight playoff games for the first time in team history — but only four at even strength. Minnesota’s aggressive backcheck and oppressive forecheck seem to have frustrated what was a top 10 Dallas offense in the regular season. Meanwhile, the Wild have 14 even-strength goals in the series. 

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“We have got a lot of zone time in this series, but we have got to find a way,” mentioned forward Mikko Rantanen. “They defend it really well. We had 11 shots after two and they were blocking a bunch of them, and you’ve got to find a way. That’s the difference right now — it’s 5-on-5 goals.”

Amazingly, Rantanen has at least a point in each of his past 11 games when facing potential elimination dating all the way to the 2019 second round while with Colorado. That’s tied for fourth-best streak ever, with Wayne Gretzky holding the mark of 14 in a row from 1980-89. Rantanen is -275 for a point tonight.

The Stars have forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-2 in a series nine prior times, most recently against the Flames in the 2022 first round. Dallas would win the series three of those nine.

The team has been playing without injured forward Roope Hintz this entire series, lost blue-liner in Nils Lundkvist to a facial laceration in Game 4, and then lost forward Arttu Hyry in Game 5. The impressive rookie is not expected to play tonight. The Stars are trying to avoid being knocked out before the Western Conference Finals for the first time since a 2022 first-round loss to Calgary.

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Basically the same play we have been using of late to success: Home team money line and the always-loved alt Under 7.5. Only one of nine meetings this season between the Stars and Wild has seen at least eight goals. I’d be surprised if even more than six here but always want to get above seven. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.