After 82 games, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are finally here. The Dallas Stars have home-ice advantage against the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. It's going to be a good series between two teams that last met in the first round back in 2023. Before every playoff series, we post our playoff predictions on how the Stars are going to do against their opponent. Here are our predictions ahead of the Stars vs. the Wild beginning this afternoon.
Blackout Dallas Contributor Danielle Estrada: Stars in 7
It is interesting how many similarities there are between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild. For starters, they are the second- and third-best teams in the NHL, and they have each scored 13 goals against the other. This is going to be a tight series, and the way the current playoff systemunder, one of these top teams will be eliminated. Here’s why I don’t think it will be the Stars.
The Dallas Stars are no strangers to the postseason. In their previous two first-round playoff meetings with Minnesota, they have eliminated the Wild in six games each time. The Stars have gone through losing streaks, setting records, a new coaching staff, and a slew of injuries, and that was just in this year alone. Yet here they are, second in the league and moments away from another Stanley Cup run.
It seems that whatever happens to the Stars, they can still bounce back and put together a winning team. There is that old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” That’s exactly what we are going to see from the Stars. There may be times when they play from behind, but this matchup will showcase the Stars’ toughness and adaptability.
This has been on display in players like Justin Hryckowian. Hryckowian is on the cusp of a breakout performance. Although this will be his first playoff series, he is a gritty player who finds himself wherever the action is. He has scored the eighth most goals for the Stars, gives and takes hits for his team, and who can forget him calling out the Edmonton Oilers’ bench during a heated game? Hryckowian has proved he has the toughness of a Stars player. The Stars’ tough Texas hockey is the exact answer for the Minnesota Wild.
Blackout Dallas Contributor Eric Bolin: Stars in 7
The series Dallas and Minnesota fans love to hate-to-love is here. The two franchises share a mutual history with the Twin Cities, of course, and much of the 2025-26 season saw the Stars and Wild neck-and-neck, battling for the No. 2-seed in the Central Division.
It was a battle practically always destined, considering how quickly the Colorado Avalanche jumped out to a division lead, how they never lost, and how quickly it became clear that Dallas and Minnesota were better than everyone else in the division but the Avalanche. The only question from about January on was which team would get home-ice advantage in the first round.
It's Dallas. And while the prediction of the Stars taking the series in seven games isn't based on Dallas getting the deciding game at home, it's also a contributing factor to my gut instinct. The teams were similar all year, and especially down the stretch.
When the Stars' struggles returned in late March, the Wild had every opportunity to leapfrog their rivals. It never happened. The Stars were - and are - simply too strong to fold up camp, even as key players (Roope Hintz, Tyler Seguin, Miro Heiskanen, Sam Steel) remain injured ahead of the series' beginning.
Stars-In-Seven is a prediction, though, far from a guarantee. If we see the Dallas team from late January and early February, give me Stars in five. If we see the Dallas of late December and early January, give me Wild in five. But considering where each team is right now, and the Stars' three years of Western Conference Final experience, we've landed here.
Blackout Dallas Contributor Spencer Davidson: Stars in 7
With the stacked Central Division, whoever the Stars were going to play in the first round was going to make it tough. Expect this Stars vs. Wild series to be a hard-fought battle all the way to the end. Each team has its own pros and cons, but here are some important things to remember for the series.
A few of them, superstar players, are something to watch in this series. Quinn Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov, and Matt Boldy of the Wild will look to carry the Wild in scoring this series. Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Jason Robertson will look to do the same for the Stars. Honestly, I see depth goals as important in this series; a number of them should be low. Especially with the skill of the Stars and Wild power plays, it looks like the superstars will be the focus of this series.
The Stars must limit their penalties against a potent Wild power play. I would look for the Stars to play both physically and safely. Look for Dallas to aim for two or fewer penalties a game to keep the Wild power play off the ice.
The biggest factor will be the health of Miro Heiskanen and Roope Hintz. If both of these players cannot play in the first round, it will be an even harder battle for the Dallas Stars. I have the Stars winning this series in seven games with home-ice advantage. However, if Miro and Roope cannot go, this series could easily go in favor of the Wild if the Stars are not shining.
Blackout Dallas Site Expert Brian Sweet: Stars in 5
I know some of you think I might be clinically insane, but hear me out. I know the Wild are a completely different team than the one we faced in the 2023 postseason, but I have a lot of questions about their team heading into this afternoon's game and the series. One of those positions that's a question mark is their goaltending tandem.
We all saw the news about Jesper Wallstedt getting the start vs. Oettinger later this afternoon. Filip Gustavsson gave up 14 goals in the past three starts; I commend the Wild for making the hard decision to have him sit. This is his first full season in the NHL, and I don't know if he'll be able to weather the noise expected at the American Airlines Center for two games. Playoff hockey is a completely different breed for goaltenders, and you have to be ready to go.
Another thing that concerns me is their bottom two forward lines vs. Dallas's bottom two. Dallas has had decent success with depth scoring from their bottom two lines. Mavrik Bourque and Justin Hryckowian are both having great seasons, and I don't know if those lines will be able to shut them down. That's going to be a series storyline to focus on over the course of the series.
Another reason Dallas will get the gentleman's sweep is that the team is tired of hearing how they lost in the Western Conference Finals the last three seasons. I'm sure the locker room wants to shut up all the reporters and media personalities questioning whether the Stars did enough to improve their team. I know the Stars didn't have as big a splash as Minnesota did with Quinn Hughes, but Dallas wants that narrative off their back.
I think Dallas is going to jump out of the gate and steal three of the first four games. Something tells me that, after hearing all the soundbites and interviews with players over the last couple of weeks, they are ready to take the next step. That's why I have the Stars in five games. Hopefully, the Los Angeles Kings can tire out the Colorado Avalanche by taking them deep in their series. That would greatly help the Stars.
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