The Dallas Stars visit the Wild on Monday for the first-ever playoff game between the former and current Minnesota NHL franchises. Expect hostilities. Puck drop is at 8:30 p.m. ET on CNBC.
Stars vs. Wild 2016 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch NHL playoffs online
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Scouting the Stars
Tyler Seguin returned in Game 2 after missing a month with a partially torn Achilles' tendon, and it was obvious he wasn't up to speed. Seguin played fourth-line minutes and was clearly a step behind the rest of his teammates all night. It'll be interesting to see if Lindy Ruff shelters him again or whether he can prove more effective in Game 3. Kari Lehtonen looks to get the start again after another excellent night in net. Dallas needs to return their power play to its regular season level; through two games, Dallas' power play percentage is 9 percent.
Scouting the Wild
The Wild have to know how close they came to winning Game 2. If Antoine Roussel doesn't turn the puck into a magical jumping bean and the Stars don't kill a minute off the clock on a delayed penalty, there's a good chance the game at least would've ended in overtime. They'll lean on Ryan Suter (who has more shifts per game than any other playoff defenseman) and Devan Dubnyk again to give their depleted forward corps a chance.
Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild
8:30 p.m. ET | Game 3, Western Conference Round 1
Xcel Energy Center | St. Paul, Minnesota
Local: FS-N, FS-WI, FS-SW | Nat'l: CNBC, SN, TVAS2
Live stream at NBC Live Extra and Rogers GameCentre
More coverage: Stars blog | Wild blog
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