The Wild and Stars are set to clash Thursday night as they open up their Round 1 best-of-seven series when the Stanley Cup playoffs roll on.
Dallas won 50 games and notched 109 points to clinch its first division title since 2005-06 and punch its ticket to the playoffs for the second time in three years. Minnesota won 38 games and picked up 87 points to earn its fourth straight trip to the postseason.
The Stars will be without Tyler Seguin (Achilles), but still display a lot of firepower in their lineup. It all begins with captain Jamie Benn, who led the club in goals (41), assists (48) and points (89) this season, while playoff veteran Patrick Sharp will make his presence known along with Jason Spezza.
Dallas is excited to get back into the playoffs, but hopes the journey lasts longer than two seasons ago, when it was ousted by Anaheim in six games in the opening round.
"The enjoyment is coming to the rink and knowing that we're one of the teams that's still playing and you've got to wrap your arms around it," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said per NHL.com.
The Wild are also dealing with some injuries as leading scorer Zach Parise (25 goals) won't be available for Games 1 and 2 and possibly longer as he deals with a back injury. Thomas Vanek (upper-body) and Erik Haula (lower-body) aren't expected to dress either.
Mikko Koivu, who led the club with 56 points in the regular season, will look to help galvanize his beleaguered bunch. Defenseman Ryan Suter is sure to see plenty of ice-time, and it'll be on him to stop a potent Stars team that scored an NHL-best 3.23 goals per game this season.
In its past two postseasons, Minnesota ousted the Central Division champion to advance to Round 2.
"We have some experience and I think we should utilize it," Wild coach John Torchetti told NHL.com. "It's going to come down to the wall plays, to the net-front battles and it's going to come down to the special teams."
In the crease, Minnesota is set to turn to Devan Dubnyk, while Dallas is expected to counter with Kari Lehtonen.
Game Preview & Live Stream
Details: Stars at Wild Game 1.
Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas.
Time: 9:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. CT).
Radio: Minnesota (KFAN 100.3), Dallas (KTCK 97.6)
Prediction: Our predictions for this series can be found here.
Betting Odds: The latest betting odds can be found here.
Watch Online: This game can be live streamed for free here.
