Hughes scores winner in 3rd periodWild eliminate Stars in Western 1st Round

ST. PAULMinn. -- Quinn Hughes had two goals and an assistand the Minnesota Wild eliminated the Dallas Stars with a 5-2 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Grand Casino Arena on Thursday.

Minnesota will advance to the Western Conference Second Round for the first time since 2015. The Wild's last series triumph came against the St. Louis Blues in the 2015 Western Conference First Roundwhen they clinched the series in six games.

Hughes gave the Wild a 3-2 lead when his wrist shot from the left face-off circle deflected off the skate of Dallas defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin in the slot and past goalie Jake Oettinger at 10:38 of the third period. Matt Boldy then scored a pair of empty-net goals at 18:29 and 19:45 for the 5-2 final.

"Obviouslywe had a great opportunity to close them out in Game 6," Hughes said. "If it went the other wayyou'd still have a chance in Game 7but I just think their backs are against the wall and you want to close it out. I think all of our guys had that mindset and that's all I was thinking."

Jesper Wallstedt made 21 saves for the Wildthe No. 3 seed in the Central Division.

"I'm really proud of the group," Minnesota coach John Hynes said. "I meanthey're such a pleasure to coach. The way they went through the seriesI think just learning lessonsand trying to get better and stronger. Tonight was another example of that.

"We came out on our toesready to playhad great commitment the last two games with the shot blocking ... and we had contributions throughout the lineup. It was fun to coach."

Wyatt Johnston and Mavrik Bourque each scoredand Oettinger made 16 saves for the Starsthe No. 2 seed in the Central Division. Dallas had advanced to the Western Conference Final in each of the past three seasons.

"We played hardbut it felt like every time we made a mistakeit ended up in our netand I think it wasn't for a lack of trying to scoreit's just that we didn't get the bounces that we needed," Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. "That's a heck of a team and they played really well. I thought tonight was a pretty even game. I meanthey had the first periodwe had the secondthe third was a toss-up and they just got the last bounce off a skate ... it kind of summed up the series."

Hughes' first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:23 of the first period. He collected a return pass from Marcus Folignodrifted through the slot and fired a wrist shot top shelf over the glove of Oettinger.

"'Hughesy' was at the top of his game," Hynes said. "He was a difference-maker in many different ways. Obviouslythe way that he drove offense and was able to scorebut I thought in generalhis competitive nature tonight -- puck battlesdefendingthe way he skated and competed throughout the game on both sides of the puck -- was high level."

Johnston made it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 7:01 of the second period. Mikko Rantanen's pass from below the goal line found Johnston in the slotwho put a snap shot past the right pad of Wallstedt.

Bourque gave the Stars a 2-1 lead at 16:08. Taking advantage of a crazy carom off the end boardsBourque got the puck at the right post and moved it into the slot before putting it past Wallstedt's back side with a wrist shot.

"We knew they were going to push hard (in the first period). It's their home rink and they want to end the series," Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said. "I think we could have played better (in the first)but it was only 1-0 and I think we played better in the secondgot some momentum. You got to give credit to them. They didn't give us a lot of chancesespecially in front of the net."

Just 54 seconds after Bourque's goalVladimir Tarasenko tied it 2-2 at 17:02. Hughes' shot from the left point prompted Oettinger to move to the right post to make the saveleaving his backside wide open for a diving Tarasenko to finish the second chance on the backhand. It was Tarasenko's 50th career playoff goal.

"We did what we had to do," Wild defenseman Brock Faberwho had the primary assist on Hughes' go-ahead goalsaid. "I think we played a good series. This is a new team. We write our own story. Every team has their own ups and downs. We knew we were the better teamwe just had to go prove itand that's what we did.

"It's on to round two now. You flush this. It doesn't matter anymore. We've got another series to win."

NOTES: Stars forward Jason Robertson had his streak of at least one goal in eight straight playoff games enddating to Game 3 of the 2025 Western Conference Final. ... Hughes became the first defenseman in Wild history to score a series-clinching goal. Forwards Justin Fontaine (Game 62015 Western Conference First Round)Nino Niederreiter (Game 72014 Western Conference First Round)Darby Hendrickson (Game 72003 Conference semifinal) and Andrew Brunette (Game 72003 Conference quarterfinals) are the others.