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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Wyatt Johnston scored on a power-play deflection at 12:10 of the second overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild for a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

Matt Duchene tied it for Dallas on a power play midway through the third period, seconds after his backcheck on Matt Boldy averted a short-handed goal that would’ve put Minnesota up by two.

After the Wild failed to convert two overtime power plays, finishing 1 for 7 with the man advantage, the Stars took advantage of their opportunity after Danila Yurov’s delay-of-game penalty. Miro Heiskanen’s shot was knocked in by Johnston for his third goal in three games — and his sixth winning goal in four career postseasons.

“It’s kind of a little blurry, but just trying to get to the net and just trying to get my stick on the puck,” said Johnston, who had a career-high 45 goals during the regular season.

The game ended at 12:54 a.m.

Radek Faksa had a close-range chance in the second overtime he poked behind Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, but the puck skidded straight across the crease.

Wallstedt polished off the first Stars’ power play by snapping his glove around Mikko Rantanen’s shot and smothering Esa Lindell’s bad-angle attempt. Johnston then spoiled a brilliant 32-save performance by Wallstedt with his deflection.

“We definitely played well enough to win,” Wallstedt said. “It’s small margins. It’s a ‘D’ shot that double tips and hits twice and goes over my shoulder. Yeah, it’s bounces, but that’s what it is.”

Seconds after the audible thump from Stars goalie Jake Oettinger’s blocker save on Brock Faber’s slap shot, the Wild had another prime opportunity to win it in the first overtime when Quinn Hughes drew a tripping penalty on Sam Steel. But even with Faksa playing most of that penalty kill without a stick, the Wild failed to generate much pressure. Jamie Benn’s holding penalty on Nick Foligno gave them another try to crack Oettinger, who finished with 28 saves.

“I had my head down, looking out of one eye, just like, ’Good Lord, get through this,’” Duchene said.

The Wild killed four penalties between Rantanen’s power play tip-in just 1:25 into the game and Duchene’s crowd-quieting snap shot that slipped between defenseman Jared Spurgeon and the near post. That included 40 seconds of a 5-on-3 after Boldy’s delay-of-game penalty late in the second period.

As soon as he left the box, Spurgeon saw an opening to start a rush that Michael McCarron finished with his first goal in the NHL playoffs to give the Wild a 3-2 lead.

Jason Robertson scored after a slick stretch pass by Duchene to put the Stars up 2-0 in the first period.

Marcus Johansson scored on a power play to start the rally less than five minutes later, and Joel Eriksson Ek had the tying goal in the second after a brilliant setup by Boldy. The U.S. Olympian, who had a career-high 42 goals during the regular season, weaved through four Stars skaters and drew a crowd behind the net before zipping the puck back into the slot for Eriksson Ek to knock in.

Entering these playoffs, the winner of Game 3 after a split of the first two games in a best-of-seven went on to win the series nearly two-thirds of the time (245 of 369) in NHL history.

The Wild, who have not advanced in the postseason since 2015, fell on the flip side of that ratio in each of their last three appearances. They won Game 3 to go up 2-1 on Vegas last year, on Dallas in 2023 and on St. Louis in 2022, before being eliminated with three straight losses every time.

This was the third time in Wild history they reached double overtime, including a 3-2 win at Dallas in Game 1 of their first-round series with the Stars in 2023.

The Wild, who have a 4-14 series record in their underwhelming playoff history, have lost 17 of their last 23 postseason home games.

“Whether we won tonight or lost tonight, this series isn’t over,” Hughes said. “It’s a really good hockey game. We had our looks. They had their looks. Just leave it at that.”

PHILADELPHIA — Dan Vladar skated away behind the net, hunched over as he gripped his right arm in pain after the Penguins crashed into him in the crease.

For a few frightful moments, nothing else mattered for the Flyers.

Not the 2-0 first-round series lead. Not the 3-1 Game 3 lead in the third period in front of 19,937 full-throated and orange-coated Flyers fans.

Because without Vladar, voted the Bobby Clarke team MVP and journeyman turned Olympian, the Flyers would be in a world of hurt.

They still could be in trouble yet this NHL playoffs.

Buoyed by cheers of “Vladdy! Vladdy!” he shook off his injury much in the same way Vladar has turned away the Penguins with relative ease through the first three game of this Eastern Conference series.

Vladar can get a few extra days off to rest whatever ails him if the Flyers build off their 5-2 win in Game 3 and complete the sweep in Philadelphia. He did not talk to the media after the game because he was receiving treatment.

“He’s been our best player all year,” defenseman Nick Seeler said. “And he was great tonight.”

Vladar followed his first shutout of the season (with 27 saves) in Game 2 with another stellar outing and 28 saves in Game 3.

Yet, the potential of injury looms ahead of a possible sweep.

Vladar didn’t use his right arm in the celebration line — and the Flyers had plenty of celebrate in their first home playoff win since 2016 — leaving his Game 4 status in doubt.

“He’s banged up,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow. I don’t know at this moment how bad it is.”

That could be a glimmer of good news for the Penguins. A two-time NHL MVP and three-time Stanley Cup champion, Sidney Crosby has yet to score a goal in the series.

The Flyers could turn to backup Samuel Ersson, who had a solid finish to an otherwise injury-plagued and inconsistent season. The Flyers have the luxury of a 3-0 lead and two full days off before they have to make a decision on playing Vladar, who won 29 games with a 2.42 goals-against-average this season.

Vladar was one of three goalies chosen to play for Czechia at the Milan Cortina Olympics. In his first season with the Flyers, he settled one of the more unsettled positions for the franchise since Hall of Famer Bernie Parent backstopped consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 1974 and 1975.

It sure seemed like the old days of the Broad Street Bullies for the Flyers.

Flyers fans dressed in orange and started the party long before faceoff and sparked the energy ahead of their first home playoff game in eight years. The Flyers steamrolled through the first three games against their long-time nemesis in Crosby and the Penguins.

Oh, and they scrapped a bit like those old Flyers, throwing down with the Penguins that led to the comical sight of 11 players crammed into the penalty box.

Gritty, the googly-eyed mascot making his postseason debut, at one point launched a stuffed penguin from the upper level down to the pricey seats. Flyers fans stomped on the animal and nearly destroyed it before security scurried the souvenir away from the rambunctious crowd.

The poor toy seemingly got off easier than the real Penguins.

Stuart Skinner, who played a crucial role in consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances with Edmonton, has been the anti-Vladar with a 3.08 goals-against average and a .873 save percentage through three games.

Could the Penguins turn to Arturs Silovs in Game 4?

Probably not. Yet, Skinner — who heard derisive “Skinner! Skinner” chants that echoed long after Rasmus Ristolainen made it 2-1 — said he believed the Penguins could still rally to win the series.

Skinner was on the Oilers team down 3-0 that forced a Game 7 in 2024 against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

“I feel like when you go down 3-0, what really helped me in my experience was it kind of just frees you up,” Skinner said. “You don’t really have anything to lose. And we’re in a spot where we don’t have anything to lose, and they do. If we catch them a couple times, just talking about momentum, you can change momentum and when that happens, things can go in your favor.”

Should the Flyers play without Vladar, that could be the break the Penguins need to get back into the series.

Trevor Zegras, Ristolainen and Seeler scored three goals against Skinner on four shots in the second period — proof the Flyers have the offensive arsenal to win without Vladar, if needed.

“The hardest one is the next one,” Tocchet said. “Back to business tomorrow.”

BOSTON — The Sabres haven’t been able to push the Bruins around on the ice.

What’s worse, Buffalo hasn’t been able to take advantage of their power plays when Boston pushes back.

The Sabres are 0-for-9 with a man advantage in the first two games of the playoff series against the Bruins, which is tied 1-1 as it shifts to Boston for Game 3. That’s after finishing the season without scoring on their last 22 power plays over the final seven games.

“It’s always a concern, for sure,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who last celebrated a power-play goal in March. “I think we’ll have to tweak some things.”

The Sabres came into the series offended by a comment that Bruins coach Marco Sturm made about being the bigger and stronger team. Neither team backed down in Game 2, when they had several fights and a combined 94 penalty minutes.

“It’s a seven-game series so you see those guys all the time and there’s game inside the game, obviously,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov said. “Emotions are really high, everybody wants to win, everybody is competitive on the ice, so sometimes you just ended up in the scrums and the fights like that.”

Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins

When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Thursday, 7 p.m. ET (TNT)

Series: Tied 1-1.

Ruff wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a goalie change after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was pulled 16 seconds into the third period in Game 2 after his fourth goal of the game — one of them on a lofted dump-in from center ice. Alex Lyon stopped all seven shots he faced the rest of the way.

The two goalies shared the starting role this season, but Luukkonen won the No. 1 job by closing the season 12-2-1; Lyon was out the final week with an unspecified lower-body injury. Lyon went 20-10-4 for the season.

Ruff refused to blame Luukkonen’s spotty play for the Game 2 loss by saying “we win together, we lose together.”

But he also said: ”(Lyon) may play next game.”

Slow starts have also been an issue. The Sabres have fallen behind in both games — 2-0 in the first one, and 4-0 in the second, failing to score in each until the final eight minutes of the third period. They came back to win 4-3 in Game 1 but rallied too late while losing 4-2 in Game 2.

“It’s been two games. It’s nothing to freak out about, and we know that,” Sabres forward Zach Benson said. “And we know we’ve got to be better, and we will be.”

Carolina Hurricanes at Ottawa Senators

When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET (TBS)

Series: Hurricanes lead 2-0.

The Hurricanes have pushed through two tough home wins as the Eastern Conference’s top seed, the second being a double-overtime win that saw Carolina have an apparent winning score waved off in the first overtime because of an offsides review.

But two areas stood out for the Senators: the goaltending by Linus Ullmark, and their clear advantage in faceoffs.

Ottawa was No. 2 in the regular season in faceoff percentage (54.5%) while Carolina was 16th (50.1%). But the Senators have won 60.7% of faceoffs (82 of 135) through two games, including 9 of 14 in Game 1 when on the penalty kill -- a hit for a Hurricanes team that likes to get possession, maintain the puck in the offensive zone and pressure opponents.

“Obviously our percentage isn’t great,” said Carolina’s Logan Stankoven, who has scored in each game so far but went just 6 of 17 on faceoffs in Game 2. “I’ve got to try and keep winning as many draws and stay in the battle as much as possible. They have a lot of different guys that can take faceoffs ... righty, lefty, so they usually try and put out guys that can win it on their strong side.”

The Senators appear close to getting back defenseman Tyler Kleven, who hasn’t played since taking a puck to the face against Buffalo in early April. He’s been skating and coach Travis Green didn’t rule out the possibility he might play.

That would be a boost for the Senators, who saw top-pairing defenseman Artem Zub leave Game 1 with an unspecified injury and miss Game 2. Green told reporters that Zub still has yet to skate since the injury to leave the Senators thinner on the blue line, which led to big ice-time totals for Jake Sanderson (43:06) and Thomas Chabot (40:50) in Game 2.

“I feel like our group, we were a bounce away from it being tied coming back here,” forward Drake Batherson said.

Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings

When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Thursday, 10 p.m. ET (TNT)

Series: Avalanche lead 2-0.

The Los Angeles Kings wouldn’t change much about the way they’re playing against the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche.

Except, of course, a few more goals.

Sure, they’re down 2-0 in the series, but their physical, clog-up-the-neutral-zone style has slowed down the highest scoring team in the league. Colorado won both games 2-1, including Game 2 in overtime.

“Play the same way we’re playing, just a little harder,” Kings forward Trevor Moore said. “Just try to take the positives and get to LA and play a good game.”

Los Angeles went 5-1-1 at home down the stretch of the regular season.

“We’re right there playing well, fighting, fighting hard,” goaltender Anton Forsberg said. “Just (have) to stick with it and turn this around.”

Colorado was a league-best 29-7-5 on the road in the regular season.

“I feel like we’re doing a lot of good things,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. “Everyone’s been really good so far.”