Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Get this, only three teams in the Western Conference have reached the 100 point mark so far this season, the Minnesota Wild (102), Colorado Avalanche (114) and Dallas Stars (106). In fact, there isn’t another squad in the West who’s achieved more than 90 points so far this season.
Yet, because of a weird playoff format that was built to focus more on first round divisional rivalries than competitive balance, Minnesota is being stripped of the home-ice advantage they earned during the regular season.
Minnesota Wild @ Dallas Stars – NHL Playoffs (Rd. 1)
Instead, they will almost certainly be on the road, in Dallas, to open the 2026 NHL Playoffs, while home ice in the first round is ultimately awarded to whichever two teams out of the Pacific — between the Oilers (90 points), Knights (89 points) and Ducks (89 points) — finish on top of the Pacific Division.
One week until the end of the regular season 👀 pic.twitter.com/mhPu83lwlr
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 9, 2026
But as unfortunate as Minnesota’s first round fate might be, the Wild must focus on things they can control. No. 1 on that list is fixing Filip Gustavsson, who gave up FIVE goals Thursday night to the Stars, in a 5-4 road loss the Wild had to have to realistically keep their home-ice hopes alive.
If Gus Bus continues to crumble down the stretch, head coach John Hynes and president of hockey operations Bill Guerin may have to replace him with rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt.
Stars suddenly have major Miro Heiskanen issue on blue line
Meanwhile, Dallas has their own problems to deal with. Not only did Minnesota significantly outplay the Stars last night at American Airlines Arena, despite their win, but they also lost star defenseman Miro Heiskanen to a “lower-body injury,” following a hit against the boards by Ryan Hartman.
A look at the hit on Miro Heiskanen that forced the Stars defenseman out of the game. 😬
(Via @espn | #TexasHockey) pic.twitter.com/ty3JerEZa9
— SportsDay Stars (@dmn_stars) April 10, 2026
Related: MN Wild Sign Charlie Stramel; Do NOT Burn Year
Losing Heiskanen would be a devastating loss for the Dallas Stars, who rely on their 26-year-old defenseman to play 25:28 minutes per game, and who’s tallied 63 points this season on 63 assists and 9 goals.
After the game, the vibes surrounding Heiskanen’s injury were not at all upbeat. In his postgame presser, Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters that his star defenseman will be re-evaluated Friday, but that they are not expecting him to be available Saturday.
Gulutzan says Heiskanen will be evaluated tomorrow.
“Just looking at it now, I wouldn’t think he’ll be a player on Saturday, but we won’t know until we get him looked at.”
“We could get great news tomorrow, or we could get bad news. I’m not sure where we’re gonna be.”
— Robert Tiffin (@RobertTiffin) April 10, 2026
Dallas’ special teams would be in trouble without Heiskanen as well. In 2025-26, the former No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft has played over 265 minutes this year on the power play (2 goals, 26 assists) AND another 239 minutes on the penalty kill.
Unless the Stars get really good news later today, the Miro Heiskanen’s injury could be the No. 1 storyline to watch entering the Wild vs Stars playoff series next week.
Mentioned in this article: Dallas Stars injury updates Miro Heiskanen
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