ST. PAUL, Minn. — If the Wild and Stars meet again this season, it'll be in the playoffs.
As the current top seed in the Central Division, Dallas looks destined to advance, but the Wild have some work to do to shake off their status as a bubble team.
They helped that bid on Friday by shaking off the Stars, 2-1 in a shootout, in front of 19,239 at Xcel Energy Center to avoid another three-game slide and secure just their second victory on this pivotal seven-game homestand that has only two games to go.
Matt Boldy and Frederick Gaudreau delivered in the shootout, with Filip Gustavsson making 29 saves before fending off another three shots in the shootout.
Gustavsson has given up two goals or less in 16 of his 22 starts and has blocked 89 of the last 93 shots that have reached him, a stretch in which he's gone 2-0-1.
At the other end, Jake Oettinger was almost as airtight as Gustavsson. He finished with 31 saves while suffering his first loss of any kind in six career starts vs. the Wild.
If games were graded on effort and not goals, the Wild wouldn't be in these photo finishes.
Despite outplaying the Avalanche on Wednesday, they dropped a 3-2 nailbiter that stung them in the standings. Before that, they faded 2-1 in a shootout to the Panthers on Monday to sit 3-7-1 over their last 11 games. During that span, the Wild were outscored 36-21 with just eight of their tallies coming when the action was at 5-on-5.
Unlike the previous clash between these Central Division rivals last week when Dallas feasted on odd-man rushes that counted as one of those regulation losses (4-1), the Wild didn't feed as much into the Stars' transition.
They also denied Dallas on four power plays and have killed off 18 consecutive short-handed situations overall in a season-high six straight games, the penalty kill helping anchor the team while its offense struggles to produce.
The Wild's power play received only two looks, including one late in the second period, and that resulted in some of the team's best pressure.
Matt Boldy had a one-timer kept out by Oettinger and another deflection seconds later that strayed wide. Oettinger also gloved down a point shot from Alex Goligoski, who remained in the lineup in place of Calen Addison while the rookie was a healthy scratch for a second consecutive game.
When the Wild's second chance with the man advantage arrived in the third period after Colin Miller was called for hooking, they took advantage.
Mats Zuccarello directed in a pass from Boldy, who took a handoff from Goligoski, at 6:37.
The goal, Zuccarello's 20th of the season, extended the veteran winger's point streak to four games. This was also the eighth time he's capitalized on the power play, a career high for the 35-year-old.
But the Wild couldn't savor that lead for long.
By 10:24 of the third, they were back to Square 1 after Stars captain Jamie Benn buried a behind-the-net setup by Wyatt Johnston. The goal was Benn's 20th in his career against the Wild.
They'll host another Central Division foe when their homestand continues on Sunday with a matinee vs. Nashville before this lengthy stint in St. Paul wraps up on Tuesday against Los Angeles.
