Wild fail Central Division test with loss to Dallas

What was supposed to be a test to certify the Wild was downgraded to a quality control check.

With three of their best players injured, the Wild could never get a proper read on their potential, especially against a pesky Central Division rival that is expected to contend for the Stanley Cup. Instead, it was more important for the team to prove it could compete without Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello than validate its surge up the standings.

A 2-1 loss to the Stars on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center might look like it didn’t accomplish that, but this was the closest finish between these two teams in over a year and a half.

“We got some guys out that could have helped tonight,” Marcus Foligno said. “But for the most part, we didn’t open up this game like in the past. So, I think that’s the biggest thing is we stuck to our game. We worked really hard.”

BOXSCORE: Dallas 2, Minnesota 1

Dallas’ Mason Marchment scored twice, and Lakeville’s Jake Oettinger made 22 saves to deal the Wild only their third regulation loss after they’d won three of their previous four games.

Kirill Kaprizov’s shutout spoiler with 5 minutes, 50 seconds to go in the third period, a tip on a shot from captain Jared Spurgeon, rewarded the Wild for a better third period, but the goal was too little, too late for a rally.

At 11-3-3, the Wild are still locked into third place in the NHL, but holding their ground could get tricky.

Zuccarello is expected to be out for three to four weeks after having surgery on a lower-body injury suffered Thursday in the Wild’s 3-0 victory over the Canadiens when Zuccarello appeared to get hit in the midsection by a Brock Faber shot.

Joel Eriksson Ek was also hurt that game, leaving with a lower-body injury, and although the Wild persevered vs. lowly Montreal without two of their top scorers, their offense looked out of sync against a better Stars defense.

Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson formed the team’s new-look top line after they teamed up for the game-winner Thursday night once Zuccarello and Eriksson Ek exited, but they had few looks when they were together.

Kaprizov’s goal, his team-leading 11th, came after Marco Rossi subbed in for Johansson during the third period.

“It’s always a little bit tough because you lose one of the best players on the team,” Kaprizov said. “But it happens sometimes, and you just try to play the game whoever is on the ice.”

The Wild had 12 of their 23 shots in the third after lackluster pressure through the first two periods.

One of their closest calls was a Jake Middleton shot off the post late in the second.

Faber also had a glorious chance, but his stick broke as he attempted a wide-open one-timer.

Considering how the team limited Dallas to just one goal after the Stars scored seven in each of their past two wins, the Wild’s performance in their own end was commendable — particularly since they were without Jonas Brodin; he missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury.

Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson staved off 14 shots from the Stars before Marchment redirected in an Ilya Lyubushkin wind-up with 1:17 left in the first period.

Gustavsson remained steady, finishing with a season-high 38 saves after Marchment doubled Dallas’ lead by burying a puck in front at 11:24 of the third period, and the penalty kill denied the Stars’ lone power play to go 16-for-16 over the past five games. But a comeback was difficult with how the Wild struggled to execute.

All four lines, not just the first, were tweaked.

Michael Milne made his NHL debut in front of his parents, Deryn and Jerry, and girlfriend, Madison, and Liam Ohgren also drew into the lineup after he was beckoned from the minors on Friday after he tallied four goals in four games during a confidence-boosting stint with Iowa in the American Hockey League.

But the absence of Zuccarello and Eriksson Ek was noticeable; the power play went 0-for-2 against Oettinger, who improved to 6-0-1 vs. the Wild.

This was the Stars’ fourth consecutive victory against the Wild (seventh in a row including the playoffs) after they swept the series last season while outscoring the Wild 19-5; the Wild’s last regular-season victory was 2-1 in a shootout on Feb. 17, 2023.

“We didn’t let them run us over like they sometimes do with goal after goal after goal,” said Gustavsson, who leads the league with a 2.08 goals-against average and is tied for first with a .927 save percentage.

Also fortunately for the Wild, Brodin and Eriksson Ek could return soon.

They’re considered day-to-day, and Brodin skated on Saturday morning while Eriksson Ek was feeling “a lot better,” coach John Hynes said.

The rematch vs. Dallas isn’t until Dec. 27 and if they get healthy and stay near the top of the NHL, perhaps then the Wild will finally have a chance to measure their mettle.

“A loss is a loss,” Spurgeon said. “Obviously, there’s some things that we’re happy with, but you want to be on the other side of that game.”