Stars host the Wild to begin the NHL Playoffs

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Minnesota Wild (46-24-12, in the Central Division) vs. Dallas Stars (50-20-12, in the Central Division)

Dallas; Saturday, 5:30 p.m. EDT

LINE: Stars -121, Wild +101; over/under is 5.5

NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Stars host series opener

BOTTOM LINE: The Dallas Stars host the Minnesota Wild in game one of the Western Conference first round. The teams meet Thursday for the fifth time this season. The teams tied the regular season series 2-2. In their last regular season meeting on April 9, the Stars won 5-4.

Dallas has gone 50-20-12 overall with a 17-6-3 record in Central Division play. The Stars have a 26-6-5 record in games their opponents commit more penalties.

Minnesota is 13-10-3 against the Central Division and 46-24-12 overall. The Wild have a 41-7-6 record when scoring three or more goals.

TOP PERFORMERS: Wyatt Johnston has 45 goals and 41 assists for the Stars. Mavrik Bourque has six goals and three assists over the past 10 games.

Matthew Boldy has 42 goals and 43 assists for the Wild. Mats Zuccarello has one goal and 10 assists over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Stars: 7-2-1, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.3 assists, 4.2 penalties and 9.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.

Wild: 6-4-0, averaging 3.6 goals, 5.5 assists, 3.5 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game.

INJURIES: Stars: Miro Heiskanen: day to day (lower body), Nathan Bastian: out (hand), Roope Hintz: out (lower body), Tyler Seguin: out for season (acl).

Wild: Zach Bogosian: day to day (lower-body), Quinn Hughes: day to day (illness).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.