Minnesota Wild Outlast Dallas Stars, Double-Overtime

DALLAS -- — Ryan Hartman had just circled around the net when a deflected puck came toward him. He quickly scored to give the Minnesota Wild a victory in their playoff opener — a game that began Monday night and dragged into early Tuesday morning.

Hartman gathered the puck and skated in front of the crease before lifting it over the extended left leg of Jake Oettinger at 1 a.m. local time, giving the Wild a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars in a more than four-hour marathon in which both 24-year-old goalies had spectacular performances.

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“Their goalie was fantastic, our goalie was fantastic,” Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. “Some of the saves that both of them made were, it feels like nobody is going to score, right?”

The game-winner came after Stars defenseman Thomas Harley had knocked the puck toward the corner, but Colin Miller was unable to clear it. The puck instead ricocheted off Sam Steel's stick and toward Hartman.

“Just a bounce that went their way," Oettinger said. “We had a couple that didn’t go our way and that’s hockey. ... Tight game and two good teams, and it’s going to be a heck of a series.”

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Dallas.