Wild 1, Stars 2: A Preseason Finale That Felt Like April
Thomas Harley's late winner capped a perfect Dallas preseason, but the brawls, chirps and a Brock Faber scare in St. Paul said more about where this rivalry is headed.
Preseason hockey is not supposed to matter. Nobody told the Wild and Stars. Saturday's exhibition finale in St. Paul ended Dallas 2, Minnesota 1 on the scoreboard — and ended, more memorably, in a full-scale line brawl, with Bring Me The Sports reporting 72 penalty minutes handed out in the final 1:16. For two Central Division rivals who open the real season within days of each other, it was less a tune-up than a preview.
The game inside the circus
Strip out the theatrics and there was a tight, well-played game here. Joel Eriksson Ek scored Minnesota's goal, Radek Faksa answered for Dallas, and Thomas Harley's go-ahead goal late in the second period stood up as the winner, per Bring Me The Sports and the Stars' team site. Minnesota outshot Dallas 27-18 and generated most of the third-period push, but Casey DeSmith — starting with No. 1 goalie Jake Oettinger not in the lineup — stopped 26 of 27.
Then the last 76 seconds happened. Marcus Foligno squared off with Jamie Benn. Michael McCarron fought Justin Hryckowian. Matt Boldy, not usually found on fight cards, dropped the gloves. By the final horn the game had produced more penalty minutes in a minute and a quarter than some teams take in a week.
The scare that mattered more than the score
The moment that will linger in Minnesota wasn't any of the fights. Defenseman Brock Faber took a puck to the head in the second period and did not return for the third — a precautionary hold, per Bring Me The Sports, but an uncomfortable sight five days before games start counting. Faber is the foundation of the Wild's defensive structure, and this roster's margin for error on the blue line is thin enough that his availability on opening night is now the week's top storyline in St. Paul.
Dallas: a perfect preseason with a clear identity
For the Stars, the win completed a 4-0-0 preseason in which they allowed three goals total, per the team's site — a resonant number for a club leaning hard into run-prevention. That report frames Dallas's goals-against numbers as among the league's best in recent seasons, and the exhibition slate suggested continuity: a deep defense corps around Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and Harley, with DeSmith and Rémi Poirier holding the fort in goal. "If you limit goals against, you have a good chance to win every night," forward Jason Robertson said, per the Stars' site — as close to a mission statement as September offers. Head coach Glen Gulutzan framed the standard the same way: "You want it from everybody, you want that same level of expectation."
None of it counts yet, and preseason shutout streaks have a short shelf life. But identity travels, and Dallas heads into the season having spent four games rehearsing exactly the kind of low-event hockey it intends to play in April.
Minnesota: chips already on shoulders
The Wild enter the season carrying both expectation and irritation. This is a team that went 46-24-12 last year and reached the Western Conference's second round, per NHL.com's season preview — yet prominent voices still pick against them. When podcaster and former NHLer Paul Bissonnette predicted Minnesota would miss the playoffs, general manager Bill Guerin fired back publicly: "Usually it takes somebody that's been in the playoffs to comment on playoffs," per Bring Me The Sports.
The sharper subplot is contractual. Quinn Hughes, who per NHL.com's preview put up 53 points in 48 games for Minnesota last season and led the team in playoff scoring, is entering the final year of his deal and can reach unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2027. Every month without an extension will get louder. A team whose window depends on elite blue-line play has both its cornerstone defensemen in the news this week — one for his health, one for his future — which is not how anyone draws up an opening-night runway.
What to watch next
The real games arrive almost immediately. Minnesota opens Thursday, October 1 in Nashville and raises the curtain at home against Boston on October 3, per FOX 9; Dallas begins its season next week. The regular season will hand these two rivals plenty of dates that count — and if Saturday's finale is a fair sample, the first one is going to feel like a continuation, not a fresh start.