DALLAS _ At one point during the second period Friday, the forearm of Stars winger Jamie Benn connected with the mask of Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
Dubnyk fell backward into the crease and was slow to get up. While he was on his knees, he struggled to regain his position as his stick was off to the side of the net.
For a moment the Wild players' season flashed before their eyes. But Dubnyk got up, stayed in the game and made sure the Wild did the same in a ridiculous second-period performance.
That second period buoyed the Wild to a 3-1 victory over the Stars, the Wild's second consecutive win. Ryan Suter, returning to the sight of his fractured ankle that ended his season last April, scored the winning goal at 12 minutes, 54 seconds of the third period when he fired a puck from behind the net that deflected off Stars defenseman Esa Lindell and into the net.
Dubnyk made 32 saves and had 24 during a frenetic second period and with the way Dubnyk was playing, it was going to take a goal that he had little chance of stopping to beat him. That's what happened 36 seconds into the third period when Jason Spezza redirected a shot from Miro Heiskanen. Spezza was positioned in front of the net and got his stick on the puck, which changed its trajectory to go under Dubnyk's right arm to give the Stars a 1-0 lead.
But the Wild were able to provide enough firepower to help him out.
At 9:37 defenseman Matt Dumba cleaned up a loose rebound in front of Stars goaltender Ben Bishop and a few minutes later Suter's improbable goal but the Wild ahead. Zach Parise added an empty-net goal with one minute remaining.
Dubnyk actually didn't have to do much at the start of the game. The Stars didn't get their first shot on goal until there were 8 minutes, 39 seconds left in the period. They had just two shots on goal when Wild winger Matt Read, who was recalled from Iowa prior to Friday's game, went to the penalty box for hooking.
The Stars mounted a decent power play and challenged Dubnyk, especially on one sequence when Tyler Seguin bounced a wrist shot off Dubnyk's pads and Benn had a shot of putting home the rebound. But Dubnyk was able to react in time and slide over to stop Benn's shot.
The line of Jason Zucker, Eric Staal and Read provided the most offensive firepower for the Wild in the first, with each landing two shots on net. The Wild came up empty on their lone power play of the period and couldn't generate a shot on goal during it.
The game opened in the second period and the ice tilted in the Stars' favor. The Stars had two power plays, both of which were adventures for the Wild.
Seguin and Benn continued to be a menace for the Wild as they posted six shots on goal in the period, but Dubnyk made sure they didn't get through.
He moved effortlessly around the crease before and after his collision with Benn and made several notable saves, including a stop of Seguin on the doorstep with 7:10 to play. Seven of Dubnyk's saves came while the Wild were shorthanded but his masterstroke came with 49 seconds remaining in the period during a Stars 2-on-1. From the right circle Devin Shore passed to Mattias Janmark at the left circle and Janmark looked to have an open net for the first goal of the game.
But Dubnyk slid over just in time to rob Janmark and keep the game tied through two periods.
