DALLAS, Tex. — The wild vs stars matchup arrives in Dallas with the Minnesota Wild and the Stars meeting for the final regular season game between the teams. The game on Thursday night has immediate playoff stakes, with both sides fighting for home-ice advantage in their first-round series in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The wild vs stars meeting also comes with Minnesota carrying momentum into a matchup that could reshape the final stretch of the season.
Playoff positioning comes into focus
Minnesota enters Dallas after winning four straight and sitting two points behind the Stars with four games left for each club. A regulation win would keep the Wild within striking distance of home ice and could change the path over the final three games, which include trips to Nashville and St. Louis before a home game against Anaheim. An overtime result, or a loss, would make that climb much harder because Dallas already holds the first tiebreaker on regulation wins, 35 to 30.
The setting makes this more than a routine late-season game. It is a first-round preview between teams that have already seen each other three times this season, with Minnesota winning the second game 5-2 in St. Paul and the third 2-1 in overtime after Dallas opened the series with a 5-2 victory at American Airlines Center. The wild vs stars meeting now becomes the latest test in a season series that has stayed tight.
What the numbers show
The Wild say the road has not been a problem, pointing to their tie for the second-most road wins in the NHL with 23. They also have been tough in recent weeks in ways that matter in the postseason, including the NHL’s third-best combined special teams over the past 26 games and the second-fewest shorthanded situations in the league this season. On the other side, Dallas enters with a roster that has been described as banged up, though still dangerous in every area that can swing a playoff series.
In the series itself, Minnesota’s Matt Boldy and Vladimir Tarasenko lead the Wild with four points each, while Kirill Kaprizov has three. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson has started all three games against Dallas and has gone 2-1-0 with a 1. 99 goals-against average and a. 915 save percentage. For the Stars, Miro Heiskanen leads the way with four points, and Jake Oettinger has started all three meetings with a 2. 31 goals-against average and a. 929 save percentage.
Reactions and what the Wild want to prove
Marcus Foligno said the message is simple: play a strong road game and make Dallas feel the pressure heading toward the series. “Anything can happen in the playoffs, ” said Marcus Foligno, left wing for the Minnesota Wild. “You’re just trying to really put a good road game out there for them and just let them know there’s things to worry about come the series. We want to play a really good game. We want to win that game. Should be a really competitive game, just like we had the one last time here. ”
The Wild also see the night as a chance to measure themselves against a team they have already met in the playoffs before. Minnesota lost to Dallas in the first round in 2023, and the tone of Thursday’s game suggests the Wild want this one to send a different message. The wild vs stars stage is not only about points; it is about how both teams want to look before the postseason starts.
Quick context on a familiar opponent
The Stars have won the first-round matchup against Minnesota twice, and the teams have spent much of this season close in goals for, goals against and special teams. Dallas has already secured the first tiebreaker, which raises the cost of every late-season result for the Wild.
The context is simple: this is the last regular-season meeting, and both sides know exactly what is attached to it.
What happens next
If Minnesota takes the regulation win it wants, the path to home ice stays alive and the remaining schedule becomes a real race. If the Wild do not get it done, Dallas will have a firmer grip on the edge in the series. Either way, the wild vs stars game in Dallas will be remembered as one of the clearest pressure points of the Wild’s season.
