Quinn Hughes is huge as Wild eliminate Dallas in Game 6

Two shifts later, Oettinger made a sprawling leg save to thwart a 2-on-1 rush to the net where Nico Sturm and Marcus Foligno — who had both assisted on Hughes’ goal — came very close to doubling the Wild lead.

Dallas killed the first penalty of the game early in the second, allowing just one Minnesota shot. Then the Stars went on the power play, which has been their only consistent source of offense in the series, and tied the game on Wyatt Johnston’s fourth playoff goal.

The Wild’s second power play of the game was also unsuccessful, but featured a Mats Zuccarello shot that deflected off Oettinger’s left shoulder, then off the crossbar and out of danger.

The Stars got a juicy carom off the end boards late in the middle frame to take their first lead of the night, when Mavrik Bourque pounced on a loose puck at the top of the crease. But Minnesota tied things back up less than a minute later, when Tarasenko backhanded a shot into a yawning net with the Dallas goalie pulled out of position when Hughes’ shot was deflected at the other side of the crease. It was Tarasenko’s 50th career playoff goal, and his first with the Wild.

Minnesota suffered a vital personnel loss in the opening minute of the third when center Joel Eriksson Ek went down awkwardly in the offensive zone. He had to be helped from the ice and headed down the tunnel. He returned midway through the third.

The Wild were without defenseman Jonas Brodin for the first time in the playoffs after he was injured blocking a shot in the second period of Game 5 in Dallas. Earlier in the day, Wild coach John Hynes said Brodin is considered day to day. Veteran Jeff Petry, acquired at the trade deadline, took Brodin’s place on the third defensive pairing with Zach Bogosian.

Briefly

The Stars ended Thursday’s game with a 3-20 franchise record in series where they trailed 3-2 after five games. Two of those series wins — in 1980 versus Montreal and in 1968 versus Los Angeles — came when the team was still based in Minnesota. Formed in 1967 as an expansion team, the North Stars played 26 seasons in Bloomington before moving to Dallas in 1993.

Related Articles

• Head-on approach as Wild face tough task of ending Stars’ season
• Wild: Mats Zuccarello’s return, and off-ice mentorship, fuels Kirill Kaprizov’s success
• Wild-Stars: Jonas Brodin’s status for Game 6 undetermined
• Wild lean on defense in Game 5 to put Stars on brink of elimination
• Wild and Stars playing ‘paint wars’ as series ramps up for Game 5