Hartman, Wild top Stars in 2OT in Game 1 of Western 1st Round

DALLAS -- Ryan Hartman scored at 12:20 of the second overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at American Airlines Center on Monday.

Stars defenseman Colin Miller tried to clear the puck out of his zone, but it hit off Wild forward Sam Steel and caromed to Hartman, who skated out front and shot over the outstretched left pad of Jake Oettinger.
"It's been tight with them all season, but obviously it's playoff hockey and it's different," Hartman said. "We expect a good battle. We're happy with obviously getting the first win, but we can't sit and think about the win too much. We have a game to win on Wednesday and we've got to get another one."

Kirill Kaprizov and Steel scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 51 saves in his first career Stanley Cup Playoff start for Minnesota, the No. 3 seed in the Central Division . Gustavsson made 17 saves in the first overtime and nine in the second.
"After the second period, I tried going into the locker room and reset there," Gustavsson said. "And then in the third period] and first overtime, it felt like [the puck] started hitting me. Kept the rebounds close to me, and that's when I started to feel more comfortable in the game."
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be here Wednesday.
Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz scored, and Oettinger made 45 saves for Dallas, the No. 2 seed in the Central. Oettinger made six saves in the first overtime and six in the second.
"Just a bounce that went their way," Oettinger said. "We had a couple that didn't go our way; that's hockey. I'm just proud of the effort the guys gave."
[RELATED: [Complete Stars vs. Wild series coverage]
Stars forward Joe Pavelski left the game at 12:02 in the second period after a hit from Wild defenseman Matt Dumba.
"No, no I'm not confident for [Pavelski's availability for] Game 2," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "He's OK. He's walking out of the rink on his own OK."
Dumba received a minor penalty for roughing on the play.
"To be honest, I thought it was a clean hit," Dumba said. "Shoulder on shoulder. I don't even know why I got the roughing, probably because I was just in the box already."
Kaprizov gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 19:12 of the first period, scoring on the power play after tipping the puck from the top of the crease.
"I didn't like our start," DeBoer said. "You know, sometimes it's easier to start on the road in these Game 1's in the playoffs. Didn't like our start. I thought once we started to play in the latter part of the second period, third period, and the overtimes, we really put a lot of pressure on them. Both goalies were good. We hit a couple of posts. That's playoff hockey, those could go either way."

Hintz tied it 1-1 on the power play at 2:08 of the second period on a shot straight off the face-off won by Jamie Benn.
"It was a great hockey game with flows, we were back and forth," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "The overtimes, obviously there were some unbelievable looks and great saves. The hockey game had everything. We're happy the way that we held our composure, and all of that good stuff that everybody talks about in the playoffs. We did it tonight, we've got to do it again."
Robertson put Dallas ahead 2-1 at 4:13 with a power-play goal on a shot from the top of the right circle before Steel tied it 2-2 at 14:25 on a breakaway.
"That's playoff hockey to a 'T'," Stars forward Max Domi said. "Obviously they played really well, got to give them credit. As a group, I think we got better as the game went on and just a couple of bounces, it could have gone either way. We'll regroup, did a lot of good things tonight, and build on that for sure."

NOTES: It was the longest game in Wild history, passing Game 1 of the 2003 Western Conference Final against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (88:06). ... Dumba set a franchise record by playing 38:31. Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin played 38:26. The previous record was held by current Stars defenseman Ryan Suter, who played 36:51 for Minnesota against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 7, 2013. Suter played 34:42 Monday. ... Gustavsson became the fifth goalie to make at least 51 saves in his NHL playoff debut (since 1955-56 when shots were officially tracked). Roberto Luongo made 72 saves for the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the 2007 Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Stars. ... Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen played a game-high 41:42.