Last season Jiricek suffered a spleen injury that ended his season early. The MN Wild envisioned a scenario in which they improved upon Jiricek’s skating and got him to a place where he could be a top contributor on the ice.

Does Hughes slot in as a partner to likely Team USA teammate Brock Faber? What does that mean for the rest of the Minnesota lineup?

At 17-9-5, the Wild are tied for the fourth-most points (39) in the NHL. But.because Colorado (51 points) and Dallas (47 points) have been so dominant, they're still a long way back in the stacked Central Division.

Minnesota was sharper and just better overall for most of the game as Dallas fell behind late and couldn’t spark a comeback

The Stars entered the game 10-0-5 in their last 15 meetings against the Wild, with this being Minnesota’s first regulation win over them since Nov. 18, 2021. Dallas came in red-hot; this was only their third regulation loss since Oct. 21. But the Wild set the tone from the start, holding a 9-0 shot advantage midway through the period.