A power play was impending, but the Wild was in no hurry to let the Stars touch the puck to trigger the chance.
Instead, the team played keep-away as the seconds dripped off the clock — even executing a full-line change up front before the whistle finally blew a whole minute after the Dallas penalty.
Just days earlier, those seconds couldn't have been spent like that. They were too precious, with the Wild continually in chase mode after falling behind and lacking the offensive firepower to close the gap.
But on Saturday, the team was in complete control.
"I never felt there was a lull where we were doing the wrong things," coach Bruce Boudreau said.
After starting the week with a blowout loss, the Wild ended it with another — but this time it was the one handing out the punishment, a 7-0 thrashing of the Stars in front of an announced 18,219 at Xcel Energy Center that marked back-to-back wins for the first time since Dec. 23-27.
Not only was this the Wild's largest margin of victory at home in franchise history, but the result also tied the biggest separation in any win the team has ever had — the Wild won 7-0 at Buffalo on Jan. 15, 2015.
"We played the right way for 60 minutes," Boudreau said.