NHL Preseason Highlights | Stars vs. Wild – September 25, 2025

NHL Preseason Highlights | Stars vs. Wild – September 25, 2025

With Ericson not in the lineup tonight, Zukarelloo injured and potentially going to miss a little time at the start of the year. Nights like these are a chance to open some eyes. Pretty clean first period altogether. There hasn’t been a lot of physical play. He’s kind of come out with any anger running anybody through the wall. Borton takes a return feed. The pad saved for Ballstead. Johnson’s pass intended for Yurov. Intercepted by Blackwell. He moves down the wall. A shot right on. Save Ballstead and he’s able to cover the rebound and get a whistle. Battle along the boards. Stars come up with a puck eventually off the post. That bank shot by Middleton officially counts as Minnesota’s first shot on goal here tonight. Puck comes out to center ice. Backs a deflect for Blackwell. Back grabs a loose puck. Blooms in for a shot and Ballstead is there to knock it down and cover. The second straight shift into the smart for check. Turned that one over, but puck is rolling on him. Spun out of the way. Urac settles it down, fires, and a blocker save by the Smith. He can’t get there before the puck does. Ashton with two shots from close range. Puck still loose and finally Ballstead able to find it and covers ahead for height. He’s pumped off the puck by Ernie. Jack Johnson steps up for Minnesota. Johnson carries along the wall. 70 seconds to go in the period. Baldi off the end board centered and a chance they score. Rossi was stopped by the Smith on the first whack, but on the second he finds the back of the net and Marco Rossi has the game’s first goal. Jack Johnson gets up the ice. Couple of hard strides. He’s in a support position, picks his puck up in the neutral zone. Now watch the battles he wins here. Pull up, turn, protect that puck, hold it, win another battle, tip it down to support, and gets it to Baldi and his hands just go to work. Rossy through the slot. He’s able to find this one. Kind of a broken play. Misses him on the first chance, but sitting on a tee for him. and he finds the five hole in the net. Doesn’t always get the credit for being willing to go to the hard areas in front of the net like he does. What I like about his game is he’s not one of the guys that there he scores again to Rossi and a couple of goals just seconds apart for Minnesota. Two and 12 seconds for Rossi and it’s two0 Minnesota. Well, it’s a beauty. Baldi gets great position in the neutral. That’s body position. Then a little strength to hold off the defender and then eyes up, protects that puck. Nice little floater on the backand. Beautiful play. Twoon one. Backhand sauce right on the tape of Rossy to Smith. And there you going to stand out. Underway in the second period. Leabushkin across to Bishop. was and kind of your message was this isn’t intense. This is just training camp. And I do think that there’s a level of expectation this year that it’s been very similar. It’s it’s just not as much of a story, but the intensity has been there. Yeah. And I I think that’s the big thing. It’s like last year there Yeah, you’re right. There was a lot made out of Oh, it was so hard. It’s supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to be challenge. How important it was because then then we get into uh you know, injury trouble. You know, we lose we lose off, we lose Zack, we lose Brodine, Spurgeon for a little while, some availability, top six on a power play, something like that. Have you liked the guys competing for those roles? Yeah, and I I think that’s exactly it. It’s again, you talk about like opportunity. Um, so I think for him to, you know, struggle a bit, um, and come through it on the other side, Panther, you can call the game now if you want. I was unmute him. I was just waiting for me. I wanted to make sure I was waiting for you. What’s your What’s your biggest concern if there is one heading into the season? Like what’s one thing you haven’t yet learned about your team? Always injuries. Always injuries. Is that just a luck thing? What’s that? Is it Is that just bad luck? Injuries? Just bad luck? Or is there is there a way to manage it? Uh, I think it’s just I honestly it’s such a rough game. It’s fast. There’s a lot of games. It’s It’s just a luck thing. I mean, our guys play hard, too. Yeah. And that’s, you know what, that’s what happens when uh, you know, when you play hard, you you when you don’t play on the perimeter and stuff like that, you just, you know, it’s uh, yeah, it’s part of the game. Unfortunately, I don’t have the data for this. You know what I’d actually love to see is probably man games lost or injury west compared to east cuz you could argue that the east has a little bit easier travel schedule’s a little bit different. Um oh my god the the east is a piece of cake. When you go out to the west it is different is it? Oh god. Yeah. I mean you played in both too. There’s nobody complaining. We’re playing in Jersey and and we’re taking a bus to New York. New York Philly. You’re in your own bed by 11 p.m. Yeah. Even when you fly to Washington or Carolina or whatever, you’re you’re you’re home at, you know, 1:30 or whatever. like it’s it’s so much easier. It’s so much easier. And you obviously you have resources this year that you haven’t had the last couple as you look again at the goal scored by Wyatt Johnston where you have a deeper roster and perhaps better prepared to deal with potential injuries. This finding out all about these guys and and and picking these players that are that are going to, you know, be part of our future. Well, negotiations are negotiations, you know, and uh I I know at times they can get uh you know uh tense and things like that. It’s just that’s the business part of it. Dark Green had the puck. I’m not sure he could, but has it like the Groers out there can just Washington Generals cleared by the Stars, checked out by the Stars. It’s there’s some tricks. Yeah, the fortech was good in the first period. They create a chance off the rush in the second. I I think Hines would like to establish a little bit more of an identity and and try to grind a little bit this final 20 minutes, get some looks from the slots, but they’ve capitalized on the the limited chances that they’ve had. I should say limited shots. Buham back to pick it up. Capri to Baldi. Baldi moves in, fires, and a pad save by Smith. and spins along the boards. Lost the puck to Bourriov backing for Minnesota. Disrupted the entry, but now Johnson has it back. The goal score for Dallas. Scores again. Wyatt Johnson with his second of the night and the game is even 2-2. Well, not only his second of the night, his second bar down of the night. This is the time for him to make that mistake cuz he’s accumulating data at the NHL level every time he jumps onto the ice. And there he made a a turn at the blue line. Eurovv weaves his way into the Dallas zone still with a park. A pad saved by to Smith. Bastion spins away from Terasenko. centered. He’s deflected away by the stick of Havli and then last so that he can get his top line out there for an extra shift. So, Capri off isn’t sitting. Loose puck out front and they score just as the power play came to an end. Ritz Kovian was left alone out front of the net and the Stars win a puck battle on the end boards. Ritz Kovian just kind of gets lost and Rossi kind of staring at it waiting for his teammate to win the puck and he kind of anticipated a battle won by his guy left the dangerous the middle ice open. Dallas jumps on it. Buham carries back for Minnesota. Cross ice pass and height with a good deflection to Smith able to make the save. Oh, what a feed from Leon there. The armor initially went up. looked like he caught an elbow in the nose and they score. Doesn’t take him long on this power play. 9 seconds into the man advantage and Dallas extends the lead to 4-2 as Maverick Bourke beats Havi and now the Wild face a twogoal deficit here late in the third and but the penalty kill has now gone 0 for three on that first draw and the power play does get to pick the side. They’re on their off side. No stick. Let’s see if the Wilds try to isolate. Capri off moves in. A shot. Pad saved to Smith. Buham fires that goes wide and a rebound all the way back down into the Minnesota zone. Buham hustling back after it. Down to a minute 20 to go. Back comes up with a puck for Dallas. Terasenko sprawls. Baldi couldn’t get it out of the zone and they score. Long wrist shot by Kolia Chonic finds the empty net and with just over a minute to go, Dallas puts it away. It’s now 52 stars and Dallas scores the last five here in St. ball tonight after Minnesota grabbed a twogoal lead on a pair from Marco Rossi in the first period. All Dallas from there to the finish and the Stars win it 5-2 [Music]

Marco Rossi scored two goals and Jesper Wallstedt made 12 saves as the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 5-2.

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