The Dallas Stars could never really get going in a 6-1 Game 1 loss against the Minnesota Wild at American Airlines Center on Saturday. Minnesota leads the series 1-0.

Stars lines

• Steel – Johnston – Rantanen
• Robertson – Duchene – Bourque
• Bäck – Hryckowian – Benn
• Erne – Faksa – Blackwell

• Lindell – Heiskanen
• Harley – Lundkvist
• Bichsel – Myers  

• Oettinger
• DeSmith

Scratches: Bunting, Hyry, Lyubushkin, Petrovic, Capobianco, Bastian (injured), Hintz (injured), Seguin (SELTIR)

Top story

Game 1s, for good and for bad.

The Stars have a history of falling in Game 1. Including tonight against Minnesota, they have dropped nine of their past 11 Game 1s to open a playoff series.

In there, have been some lopsided losses like this one, and others where they just didn’t have their best stuff, mixed in with some OT losses and close games. Tonight, they were clearly the inferior team for most of the game and lost by five goals.

Okay, that’s all the bad stuff. Purge!

On the flip side, Dallas has won five of those nine series. They have gone on long playoff runs and come within a couple of wins of the Stanley Cup Final. They have even dropped down in some series 2-1 and won three straight to turn it on its head.

And even better, they are absolutely never out of any fight.

If I have learned one thing above all else while covering this team for six seasons and watching them for 20 or more, it is that they can be incredibly frustrating, while also being incredibly determined to right their wrongs. They get down, they start slow, they lose Game 1, they go down 3-2 in a series, whatever it is. Yet, pretty much without failure, they bounce back. They rise from the dead, get that important next goal, and find a way to come back and win a game or a series.

That’s the attitude this group has right now. Are they disapointed? Sure. Do they have plenty to work on to be better in Game 2? 100 percent.

But they also understand the highs and lows of the sports, especially in the playoffs, and they are fully confident they will have a much better performance on Monday night.

Maybe I’m a fool, but I believe ’em.

Live game notebook

Period 1

• Not only is the energy high inside the AAC, but the on-ice and in-arena presentation is awesome. Live view of players walking out of the tunnel projected onto the ice. Love that.
• The pace is SO high. Everybody finishing checks.
• Dallas has the puck more here early on. Not a ton actually on net, but created a bit of chaos with cycle and forecheck.
• Tyler Myers chicken wings Mats Zuccarello, taking an unnecessary penalty away from the puck. Minnesota works a PP breakout to perfection, then goes tick-tac-toe down low to Matt Boldy and quickly to the slot for Joel Eriksson Ek, who beats Jake Oettinger to the glove side. Miro Heiskanen got a piece of the pass, but it still got there. Tough to allow the entry pass after outnumbering the puck carrier four to one, too. Don’t take penalties in this series.

• Jason Robertson looks like the best Stars skater so far. He has been flying, winning battles, and looks confident with the puck.
• Jamie Benn tried to curl up the wall after entering the zone, but fell. But he made a nice play to dive and knife the puck down the wall because four Wild skaters were heading up ice to start 4-on-2 the other way. Sometimes, those “boring” plays make a huge difference. Don’t be the one to make the big mistake.
• Oettinger makes a big-time left pad save in tight after Vladimir Tarasenko made a slick pass off the wall to Danila Yurov.
• Mikko Rantanen gets a chance on one end, but takes a high-sticking minor on the other. Massive PK for Dallas here in the final 90 seconds of the period.
• Oettinger with another good save, moving right to left on a perfectly executed set entry play from Minnesota. Zuccarello’s vision is absurd.

• Not a bad period from Dallas. But Minnesota has to really like how it played. They weathered a bit of Dallas pressure early, killed off the Stars only PP, scored on their own PP, and shifted the scoring chances 5v5 in their favor as the period ended.
• And, exhale.

Wild 1, Stars 0

Period 2

• Stars killed off the remaining seconds of the Wild PP, but Kirill Kaprizov absolutely picked a corner shortside on Oettinger shortly after. Thomas Harley looked to be waiting for support as Kaprizov skated in from the top of the circle, trying to stay home in front of the net. But Wyatt Johnston was too far away, Rantanen didn’t get back enough on the backcheck, and nobody got there to contest one of the most dangerous players in the game. It’s 2-0 early in the period.

• Quinn Hughes turns nothing into a chance with an absurd spinning pass in the neutral zone as he is heading back toward center ice. There was nothing there before that. Then, he makes another great pass to get a backhand across to Brock Faber, whose slapper hits Ryan Hartman and bounces in. 3-0 Wild just like that.

• Rantanen takes his second minor of the game seconds later. Wheels are coming off right now. Dallas needs to settle down.
• When you are getting bounces, you are getting bounces. After the puck slides across the crease, Harley tries to clear it behind, but Boldy gets there at the same time and slides it inside the post to make it 4-0.

• Worst-case scenario start for Dallas midway through the game.
• Dallas has not created a ton, but Jesper Wallstedt has been solid in there when they have gotten to him. Made a huge save on Heiskanen coming down the slot on the power play.
• But… now they do get to him, and it’s Robertson on the backhand from the right of the crease. Wallstedt didn’t look to be expecting a shot at all, but rather a cross-crease pass of some king. He barely moved. Robertson has a sneaky release.

• Dallas with a glorious chance to make it 4-2. Johnston picks up a missed shot carom off the glass and has a 2-on-1 with Rantanen from center ice and no back pressure. He wanted to move it to Rantanen so bad, but Minnesota took away pass, and Wallstedt got the tip of his glove on Johnston’s shot.

• The AAC crowd is very much back into the game. Look out if Dallas gets another.

Wild 4, Stars 1

Period 3

• Rantanen looks like he has a little extra juice to start the third. Can he do it again?
• Dallas came so close on multiple chances down low on the PP. Jared Spurgeon probably saved a goal coming out and blocking Rantanen’s one-timer at end of a crazy sequence.
• The good news is Dallas has played better in the third. The bad news is they waited until trailing 4-0 to wake up.
• Huge PK for Minnesota, and now Esa Lindell is called for tripping. Not scoring there felt like maybe game over. But if the Wild score here, it certainly is game.
• And, they do exactly that. Oettinger makes a good save, but Dallas leaves Eriksson Ek all alone in the low slot. Not the best shot in the world, but still standing alone with time to pick a spot shortside. Minnesota will win Game 1.

• Dallas has a kryptonite. Its name is Game 1. They will drop another one here at home. Maybe getting outplayed and losing by a big number will be what sparks them to come out motivated in Game 2. Score doesn’t matter. They all count as one win and one loss.
• EN for Minnesota makes it 6-1.

Final: Wild 6, Stars 1

Quotable

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan

“I thought that they certainly, to a man, were better than us… That hasn’t happened to us a lot during the year, and it was to a man. So, there’s certainly room for growth for our team. But you can’t get your game going if we’re not going to win battles. You can take any metric, and if you lose the skating battles and puck battles, you’re always on the receiving end of everything negative.”