Wyatt Johnston Scored Twice and the Stars Just Evened This Series at 1-1

The Dallas Stars are still alive in their Western Conference quarterfinal. Johnston potted two goals, including an empty-netter with 49.7 seconds left, to lead Dallas to a 4-2 win over Minnesota on Monday night in Game 2. The series is locked at 1-1, and now it heads north to Saint Paul for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Johnston's Night Was Pure Dallas Grit

Johnston's first goal came early and looked like a total fluke. He fired a slap shot wide right from inside the zone, but it caromed hard off the end boards and banked in off Jesper Wallstedt just 8:58 into the first period. The Wild answered right back less than three minutes later when Brock Faber weaved through traffic and buried a wrist shot from the slot for his first career playoff goal.

But the Stars kept pushing. Matt Duchene punched in a power-play one-timer with 15:58 left in the second period to give Dallas a 2-1 lead after Mikko Rantanen set him up at the crease. Jason Robertson deflected a Nils Lundkvist wrist shot from the point into the net with 12:51 remaining in the third to push it to 3-1.

Minnesota wouldn't quit. Faber found the back of the net again with 10:13 to go, taking a pass from Joel Eriksson Ek and beating Jake Oettinger on his stick side to pull the Wild within 3-2. Then Johnston sealed it with that empty-netter late to make it 4-2 final.

The Wild Got Banged Up

Minnesota left the game short-handed in a major way. Forward Yakov Trenin absorbed a crushing check from Stars forward Colin Blackwell at center ice in the first period, exited the game, and didn't return. The Wild were forced to play the rest of the night with just 11 forwards instead of 12, which forced coach John Hynes to shuffle his whole lineup. On top of that, Mats Zuccarello was a late scratch with an upper-body injury, so Bobby Brink made his playoff debut filling in.

Oettinger stopped 29 of 31 shots to earn the win. Wallstedt allowed three goals on 31 shots in the loss. Lundkvist also chipped in two assists for the Stars.

The series shifts to Minnesota for the next two games starting Wednesday. This is going to get nasty.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.