Wyatt Johnston of the Dallas Stars celebrates after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Seven of the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Stars Fight Back to Take Down Wild 5-2

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Mariah E. Stark | Last updated Sep 25, 2025 10:56 PM ET

The Minnesota Wild played host to the Dallas Stars on Thursday evening, Sept. 25, at Grand Casino Arena. It was the second time the two teams had seen each other in the past week, with the Stars winning 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday evening, Sept. 23. The Wild had a number of veterans in the lineup that included Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Marco Rossi while the Stars had Wyatt Johnston, Radek Faksa, and Ilya Lyubushkin among others.

For the first period and a half, Jesper Wallstedt was in between the pipes for the Wild, but towards the halfway point of the second, Samuel Hlavaj took over. For the Stars, it was Casey DeSmith who remained in the net the whole game. The Wild got on the board first, but the Stars fought back, and it came down to the final period to determine a winner. The Stars took their first lead of the game early in the third and took the win 5-2.

Game Recap

The game started out rather slow and sluggish for both teams, but with just over a minute left, things changed quickly. Marco Rossi scored to put the Wild on the board first, and he was assisted by Matt Boldy and Jack Johnson. Then, just 12 seconds later, the Wild got on the board again, and it was Rossi for the second straight time. Boldy and Brock Faber assisted him to make it 2-0. That was the scoring of the first period, and the Wild took the lead into the second.

For the majority of the second period, the Wild held the 2-0 lead, but the Stars got on the board with just under four minutes to go. Wyatt Johnston snuck one over Hlavaj’s shoulder that made it 2-1. He was assisted by Mavrik Bourque and Angus MacDonell. That was the only goal of the second, and it remained 2-1 into the final period.

Johnston scored his second of the game to tie the game up 2-2 early in the third. Justin Hryckowian assisted him. The Stars struck again, this time the goal was scored by Hryckowian to make it 3-2 for their first lead of the game. He was unassisted. The Stars continued to build their lead as Bourque scored on the power play with just over six minutes left in the game to make it 4-2. He was assisted by Johnston and Christian Kyrou. The Stars added one more goal on an empty net to make it 5-2. The goal was scored by Vladislav Kolyachonok and he was assisted by Jack Becker. That goal sealed the deal, and the Stars took the win.

The Wild will remain at home for their next preseason game, which will take place on Sunday evening, Sept. 28, against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Stars will stay on the road as they face the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, Sept. 27.