DALLAS — The Dallas Stars' 2026 playoff run is off to a rather flat start. The Minnesota Wild jumped all over the Stars in Saturday’s Game 1, pummeling Dallas in a 6-1 loss. The Stars trail the first-round series 1-0. Here are five immediate thoughts from the matchup: Game 1 woes The Stars have seen this movie before. Throughout the tenure of their previous head coach, the team was plagued by ...

The Minnesota Wild's Ryan Hartman and the Dallas Stars' Tyler Myers compete for a loose puck during the second period of Game 1 of a first-round playoff series at the American Airlines Center on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Dallas.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images North America/TNS

DALLAS — The Dallas Stars' 2026 playoff run is off to a rather flat start.

The Minnesota Wild jumped all over the Stars in Saturday’s Game 1, pummeling Dallas in a 6-1 loss. The Stars trail the first-round series 1-0.

Here are five immediate thoughts from the matchup:

Game 1 woes

The Stars have seen this movie before.

Throughout the tenure of their previous head coach, the team was plagued by slow starts in the playoffs, with Pete DeBoer posting a 2-7 record in Game 1s.

Glen Gulutzan’s playoff debut in Dallas didn’t offer much of a change, his squad once again falling behind to start a series.

With DeBoer, it wasn’t a detrimental flaw — the Stars came back to win five of seven series in which they lost Game 1.

We’ll see how Guluztan’s group responds at the first opportunity in Game 2 on Monday night.

Nightmare second

There were signs of wobbling by the end of the first period: Dallas allowed a power-play goal to trail 1-0 and were on the penalty kill again heading into the first intermission. It wouldn’t take long for the wheels to shoot off completely.

Before the midway point of the second frame, the Wild's lead had ballooned to 4-0, thanks to goals by Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman and Matt Boldy in a span of 5:34.

Wild kill comeback

The last time these teams faced off, it made for an epic playoff preview, with the Stars coming back from being down 3-1 to win 5-4 in overtime earlier this month.

The Wild and rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt made sure no such rally would occur Saturday.

After Jason Robertson finally put the Stars on the board with just under five minutes left in the second period, Wallstedt and the Wild shut down multiple Stars opportunities to close out the frame.

A Jamie Benn steal that left him all alone. A Wyatt Johnston breakaway. A Liam Bichsel slap shot that rang off the crossbar. None found the net for Dallas.

That span kept the Wild lead at 4-1 heading into the final period, rather than 4-2 with 20,000-strong at American Airlines Center back behind the home team.

Minnesota might’ve won the game with their three-goal flurry early in the second, but they sealed the deal with the final five minutes of the period.

Penalty kill

Dallas allowed three power-play goals to the Wild in the team’s final regular-season meeting a couple of weeks ago. They allowed two more Saturday.

That trend continuing could make for a shorter series than anyone anticipated.

Joel Eriksson Ek tabbed both of the Wild power-play goals in Game 1, the first in the first period after a rather obvious elbowing call on Tyler Myers. By the time Robertson struck for the Stars’ second-ranked power play in the NHL, it was a moot point.

Dallas is still undergoing a lot of shuffling on the penalty kill, thanks to injuries to both forwards and defensemen. But they have to either figure something out on the PK quickly or else be a little more subtle with the penalties they commit.

Wild’s stars vs. Stars’ stars

The Wild’s six goals?

Eriksson Ek and Boldy scored twice. Kaprizov and Hartman also found the net. If you’re looking up those names on the Wild’s list of leading scorers, you don’t have to look far. It’s four out of their top five on the season.

The Stars, meanwhile, got a goal from Robertson and otherwise had a very quiet night from their offensive stars Johnston, Mikko Rantanen and others.

The top-heavy Game 1 weighed heavily in favor of the Wild, putting Dallas in an early hole to start these playoffs.

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