04/28/26 10:05:00
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04/28 22:03 CDT Matt Boldy and Wild go home with chance to clinch series after
beating Stars 3-1 in Game 5
Matt Boldy and Wild go home with chance to clinch series after beating Stars
3-1 in Game 5
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) --- Matt Boldy scored the tiebreaking power-play goal in the final
minute of the second period, after having one taken away late in the first, and
the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 4-2 on Tuesday night for a 3-2 lead in
their first-round Western Conference series.
Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal with two minutes left and had two
assists, while Mats Zuccarello scored in his return from a three-game absence
with an upper-body injury for the Wild. Michael McCarron also had a
third-period goal.
The Wild go home for Game 6 on Thursday with a chance to advance to the second
round for the first time since 2015. They have lost their last nine playoff
series, including to Dallas in 2016 and 2023.
Jason Robertson had a goal with 3:21 left --- after also scoring goals in each
of the first four games --- and assisted on Miro Heiskanen's one-timer on a
power play for the Stars, who made the Western Conference final each of the
past three seasons.
Wild rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt had 20 saves, 11 in the third period.
Boldy, who had two goals in Game 1 and the overtime winner in Game 4 on a
deflection Saturday, scored on a shot from the top of the circle to the left of
goalie Jake Oettinger for a 2-1 lead with 32 seconds left in the second period.
Oettinger stopped 24 shots, including a sprawling save before the end of the
second period.
There were only 13 seconds left in the first period when Boldy knocked the puck
through on a power play. Dallas won its challenge for goalie interference, with
replay showing Boldy made contact on his second-effort shot.
That was the third time in two games Boldy put a puck in the net that wasn't a
goal, but he still has four goals this postseason after 42 in the regular
season. In Game 4, he had a goal waved off in regulation because of goalie
interference, and another discounted in overtime because he made a kicking
motion at the puck.
Zuccarello hadn't played since having three assists in the Wild's 6-1 win to
open the series, when he also took an elbow to the head.
He had a quick impact in his return, scoring 3:51 in to the game after Kaprizov
gathered the rebound of his initial up-close shot off Oettinger then slid the
puck over the top of the crease to Zuccarello on the other side of net.
The Stars tied the game five minutes later when Heiskanen shot a one-timer from
about 50 feet through the center of the ice.
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and
https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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