Robertson breaks tie in 3rd period, lifts Stars past Wild

DALLAS -- Jason Robertson scored the go-ahead goal 10:35 into the third period to help the Dallas Stars rally for a 5-4 win against the Minnesota Wild at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

Robertson scored on a shot from the right face-off dot off a no-look cross-ice pass from Esa Lindell.

“That’s probably exactly what you’re going to expect (in the playoffs). Guys finishing hits, taking hits to make plays and then as the game goes along, trying to make more plays, it kind of cools down. But that’s what it’s going to be like,” Robertson said. “This was one of the more probably most emotional games this season this late in the year. We’re going to play against them in about a week and a half. We’ll definitely learn from it and adjust and get ready.”

Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen, and Colin Blackwell each had a goal and an assist and Lindell had two assists for the Stars (47-20-12), who have won three of the past four games. Jake Oettinger made 27 saves and the Stars extended their lead over the Wild for second in the Central Division to four points.

“It was a hard-fought game. They scored three power play goals so that gives them a lot of momentum throughout the game, especially spread out like that. It keeps giving them little booster shot. I thought our guys did a good job rallying back from that and rallying hard in the third to get the win. I thought it was a good character win, especially with all of the power play goals they got,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “It’s not always about what your percentage is, it’s when you get kills and when you get goals on power play. You’ve got to get them in important situations. I thought that kill at the end was a real good character kill from our guys that defined the word ‘win’.”

Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, Quinn Hughes had a goal and an assist, Mats Zuccarello had three assists, and Matt Boldy had two assists for the Wild (45-22-12), which snapped a four-game win streak. Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves.

“It was tough. I felt like there were a few tough goals out there. For how we played, we should have gotten a better result today. I felt like we were playing pretty good,” Gustavsson said. “I think we got a taste of what small details we just have to be better at. We played too good to have the result we had today.”

The Stars and Wild will face each other in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“I think a couple of goals we gave up were just structural, there were some mistakes. Good on them, we made a mistake or didn’t have the right read or timing on a play and it ended up in the back of the net. But I think there’s lots we can take from this one for sure,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Every time you play, I think these two teams play each other it’s always a hard-fought battle. Tonight, you saw some emotion in the game and I think that’s to be expected.”

Johnston gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 4:26 in the first period when he flipped in a loose puck at the left post.

Quinn Hughes tied it 1-1 at 13:02, getting the puck back from Zuccarello as he crossed the blue line and beating Oettinger stick-side on a shot from the inside of the right face-off circle.

With the goal, Quinn Hughes broke the Wild franchise record for points by a defenseman in the regular season (53 points; five goals, 48 assists in 47 games since his trade from Vancouver on Dec. 12, 2025).

Kaprizov gave the Wild a 2-1 lead when he finished off a cross-ice pass on the back door on the power play at 19:44. He made it 3-1 at 6:39 of the second period when he punched in a rebound from the back side of the net on the power play.

“I feel we played pretty good. This is the game. Score more goals and win. It’s OK. We just keep going. We still have a couple of games left and just keep playing. It was a good game,” Kaprizov said. “I feel pretty good and it’s always an exciting time. It’s the best time of the year. We still have a couple of games left and want to focus on those games. If we play Dallas (in the first round), we just have to be ready.”

Blackwell cut the lead to 3-2 at 8:03 on a shot from the high slot with Oettinger exiting the ice due to a delayed penalty call.

“It was one of those games where obviously a good character win when we’re able to come back like that, especially on home ice. We did a lot of good things, but we’ve got a lot we’ve got to work on, too. Penalty kill, stuff like that,” Blackwell said. “We didn’t have a good night tonight (on the PK). I think we put ourselves in a situation to have a good opportunity to finish the game on a good note. The first three, would love to have those back. The difference between a good team and a great team and good penalty kills, you can even say power plays, is they may be 0-for-4, 0-for-5, but in a big game when the team really needs you, (you are) able to step up.”

Cameron Hughes scored his first NHL goal to tie it, 3-3, at 16:16 when he punched in a rebound of a Blackwell shot five-hole on Gustavsson.

“That’s a long time coming. I’ve always dreamed of scoring my first goal,” Cameron Hughes said. “To score in a game that means something and it’s a big game just makes it even more special. That was a lot of fun. This is going to be a (heck) of a playoff series. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Just two good teams going at it.”

Ryan Hartman gave the Wild a 4-3 lead at 19:49 on a deflection in the slot on the power play.

Rantanen tied it 4-4 at 4:28 in the third period when Thomas Harley’s point shot deflected in off his skate.

NOTES: Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen left the game late in the first period with a lower-body injury. Gulutzan did not provide an update on his status for the playoffs after the game, but did indicate he will not play against the New York Rangers on Saturday. The team will learn more about the extent of the injury on Friday. … Hartman extended his point streak to eight games (12 points; seven goals, five assists). … Kaprizov had his 42nd career multipoint game, passing Marian Gaborik (41) for the most in franchise history. … Johnston and Robertson became the third set of teammates in Stars/North Stars history to each register 40 goals and 40 assists in a single season (Dino Ciccarelli and Brian Bellows in 1987-88, Ciccarelli and Bobby Smith in 1981-82).