For most of Wednesday’s first two periods, a goal remained a promise neither team had kept. Dallas and Minnesota reached the first intermission scoreless. They were still there halfway through the second. The first finish finally arrived at 15:33 of that period, from Matthew Seminoff.
By then, the Stars had spent 35:33 waiting to get ahead. They won the preseason game 2-0 at American Airlines Center, and the timing of their goals made the victory more interesting than a quick glance at the score suggests. Dallas used a long scoreless opening to reach a shorter game, then made Minnesota chase it.
The first period gave neither offense much to show for its work. The Stars had four shots on goal, the Wild five. Jesper Wallstedt stopped Dallas’ shots and Rémi Poirier stopped Minnesota’s. The opening 20 minutes had consumed a third of the game without creating a deficit for either team.
That is the practical value of staying level when the offense is slow to score. Dallas did not have to repay an early mistake before its first goal could matter. When Seminoff finally beat Wallstedt, his finish put the Stars directly in front. Kyle Capobianco assisted on the even-strength goal.
Dallas had more shots on goal in the second period than in the first, finishing the middle frame with 11 to Minnesota’s eight. Seminoff supplied the only goal. Those additional shots gave the Stars more work to show for the period, but Wallstedt kept the conversion rate low enough that Minnesota remained a single finish from pulling level.
The lead lasted through the intermission and into the third. Every scoreless minute now reduced the Wild’s time to find an answer. This is where the quiet opening became useful to Dallas: its first goal had arrived late enough that protecting it required less than half a game.
Poirier still had to do the protecting. Minnesota put 11 shots on goal in the third, its largest total in any period, and he stopped them all. His final line was 24 saves on 24 shots. Dallas’ skaters also blocked 10 attempts, with Oskar Bäck contributing three and Miro Heiskanen two.
For 15:06 after Seminoff scored, one Minnesota goal would have erased the lead. Dallas could not treat that stretch as an extended celebration. The Wild remained close, and Wallstedt gave them time by keeping the Stars from adding a second goal until 10:39 of the third.
Then Esa Lindell scored, with Capobianco and Artem Shlaine assisting. Dallas had a 2-0 advantage and 9:21 left to defend it. The Wild’s problem had doubled while the available time had shrunk. They now needed two goals merely to reach a tie.
