So much for easing into the schedule. The Dallas Stars punched the Minnesota Wild 5-2 in the home opener, looked unbothered doing it, and casually stacked another receipt for the “they’ll regress” crowd.
Wyatt Johnston, 22, going on permanent problem, buried a first-period power-play goal to push his season-opening streak to three games. He’s the first Star to do that since Alexander Radulov in 2018-19, which is another way of saying the kid isn’t blinking.
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Roope Hintz ran the top line like a metronome, grabbing two primary helpers in the first and adding an empty-netter late for dessert.
The Stars started hot and never really cooled.
Esa Lindell walked into one from the right circle at 5:37 for 1-0, Johnston made it 2-0 before the intermission, and Matt Duchene’s net-front grease early in the second turned into 3-0 when the puck glanced off Jake Middleton’s skate past Filip Gustavsson (20 saves).
Minnesota finally found life on the power play in the third with Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov cashing, both off feeds from rookie Zeev Buium, but Dallas closed it out with empty-netters from Radek Faksa and Hintz in the final 1:42.
The quiet monster here was Jake Oettinger.
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Thirty-nine saves, calm feet, zero panic, even as the Wild threw pucks and bodies at his crease down the stretch. That’s a game you win because your goalie doesn’t give you an excuse to lose.
Dallas is 3-0 under Glen Gulutzan’s second tour, has scored 3-plus in each of the first three for just the third time since moving to Dallas in 1993, and has now won six straight home openers. Also, 11 different Stars have already scored this season. Depth, meet identity.
Next up: Vancouver visits on Thursday. If Dallas keeps this tempo and Oettinger stays stingy, the early narrative writes itself. The Stars aren’t waiting around for April to look scary.






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