DALLAS — Joe Pavelski and Esa Lindell scored on the first two Dallas shots on goal, and the Stars never trailed in defeating the Minnesota Wild 7-4.
Pavelski put in a backhand 1:31 into the game. Lindell scored short-handed and unassisted with a shot between goalie Cam Talbot’s legs 1:53 later.
Miro Heiskanen had a goal and an assist for Dallas, and Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz, Jacob Peterson and Jamie Benn also scored. Jason Robertson and Denis Gurianov each had two assists and Jake Oettinger stopped 19 shots.
Kevin Fiala had two goals, and Ryan Hartman and Kirill Kaprizov also scored for Minnesota. Talbot made 22 saves in the club's fourth straight loss, the most consecutive games without a win since head coach Dean Evason took the reigns.
The day started off on a terrible note even before the Wild got on the ice. Captain Jared Spurgeon was listed back on injured reserve with a lower body injury, just days after he returned to the lineup from a previous injury. Then during the game, center-agitator Joel Eriksson Ek got tangled up with a Stars player and crashed awkwardly into the boards. He left the game, did not return and was seen getting on the team bus wearing a sling.
