Stars and Wild provide quite a preview for their upcoming playoff series

DALLAS (AP) — Just wait until the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild are playing in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

They set quite a tone in a preview that came with a week left in the regular season. The Central Division foes, already locked into a first-round matchup, were ready to get after each other even before the best-of-seven series they will play at the start of the postseason.

“That’s probably exactly what you’re going to expect. Guys finishing hits, taking hits to make plays,” said Jason Robertson, whose 42nd goal with 9:25 to play was the game-winner for the Stars in a 5-4 victory on Thursday night.

“For sure,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “You knew there was going to be some emotion in the game. They’ve been trying to hunt us down for months, and it’s given them some fuel.”

Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen and Colin Blackwell each had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who overcame a two-goal deficit and now at 106 points are four ahead of Minnesota for home-ice advantage. Both teams have three more regular-season games before their playoff opener.

There were 12 roughing penalties in the game — six against each team — and plenty of other scuffles involving multiple players.

“Every time these two teams play each other it always is a hard-fought battle,” said Wild coach John Hynes, whose team had its four-game winning streak snapped. "You saw some emotion in the game, and I think that is to be expected.”

The remaining games for the Stars are all against Eastern Conference teams, the next two against the teams at the bottom of the standings — their home finale Saturday against the New York Rangers before going to Toronto. Dallas finishes at playoff-bound Buffalo. which has ended an NHL-record 14 seasons of futility.

The Wild stay in the West, starting at Nashville and ending at home against Anaheim — two teams fighting for playoff spots. They go in between to St. Louis.

Kirill Kaprizov had two of Minnesota’s three power-play goals, giving him 45 goals overall and matching his single-season franchise record at 19 power-play goals.

Kaprizov put the Wild up 2-1 with 16 seconds left in the first, and 14 seconds into the penalty. He extended that to 3-1 on another quick power-play goal in the second, only 16 seconds into the man advantage.

After Dallas got even, Ryan Hartman’s power-play goal with 9 seconds left in the second period put Minnesota up 4-3.

But even that wasn't enough for the Wild. They had their first regulation loss since March 2024 when leading going into the third period — 61-0-4 in that span.

Minnesota had another power-play chance after Rantanen’s slashing penalty with 2 1/2 minutes left, but failed to score even with an extra skater after pulling Filip Gustavsson out of the net.

“How we played, we should have gotten a better result. I felt like we were playing very good,” Gustavsson said. “We went 2-2 against them.”

Dallas won 5-2 when Minnesota on Oct. 14, in the Stars home opener a week into the season.

Minnesota won both games it hosted, 5-2 on Dec. 11 and a 2-1 overtime win March 21.

Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen never returned because of a lower-body injury after being knocked hard into the boards by Hartman late in the first period.

Gulutzan didn't have an update on Heiskanen after the game, but said he didn't expect him to play in the next game.

“We’ll have him looked at tomorrow and the next day,” said Gulutzan, who was asked if he was worried about the defenseman's playoff availability. “Honestly, I don’t know, but any time there’s an injury, especially your top guys, it’s concerning.”

This story has been updated to show the NHL revised its count of roughing penalties in the game. There were 12 such penalties, not nine.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Minnesota Wild's Marcus Johansson (90), Ryan Hartman (38) and Jared Spurgeon, right, celebrate aftere Hartman scored against Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Minnesota Wild's Quinn Hughes, left, Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen, center, and Joel Eriksson Ek (14) fight in the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Referee TJ Luxmore (21) looks on as fights break out between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild in the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes, top and Dallas Stars' Adam Erne (73) fight in the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Japan moved one step closer to reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup for the fourth consecutive time after pummeling Tunisia 4-0 in Group F.

Japan’s four goals were the most the Samurai Blue had ever scored in a World Cup game, as Japan comfortably dismantled a Tunisia side that became the first to ever fire its coach after the opening game.

Ayase Ueda scored twice, along with Daichi Kamada and Junya Itō to put Japan level with the Netherlands on four points. The Dutch are currently on top the group due to having scored one more goal than Japan across its two matches.

The loss for Tunisia means it is eliminated from the tournament. Japan are guaranteed at least third in the group, which could be enough to advance to the knockout stages.

Tunisia appointed two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner Hervé Renard to try and rescue the Eagles of Carthage after its humiliating 5-1 loss to Sweden, but the North African nation could not contain Japan’s speedy attack nor create any clear chances of their own.

Kamada opened the scoring in the fourth minute, the fastest in Japan’s World Cup history. The Crystal Palace midfielder was perfectly positioned for Keito Nakamura’s cross and barely had to move to tap in his second goal of the tournament.

In the 31st minute, Ayase Ueda received the ball in the midfield and drove toward the Tunisia box. When Ueda opted not to pass to a few advancing runners, any chance of a goal seemed lost — but the 27-year-old fired an angled shot from outside the box which flew into the left corner of the goal to make it 2-0.

The Feyenoord striker had an impressive club season with Feyenoord, scoring 24 goals in the Eredivisie to earn the league’s top scorer award.

In the 69th minute, Junya Itō slotted a third goal for Japan after a Ueda’s flick put Itō in a one-on-one with Tunisia’s goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen, which he finished calmly.

Ueda’s masterful looping header in the 83rd minute, his second of the night, capped off an impressive night for the Samurai Blue.

Japan, who have not lost to a European opponent in 90 minutes since 2019, will play against Sweden in Dallas on Thursday. Tunisia will play the Netherlands in Kansas City at the same time.

Ethan Wilcox is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Tunisia head coach Herve Renard looks on prior to the World Cup Group F soccer match between Tunisia and Japan in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen blocks a charge by Japan's Ayase Ueda during a World Cup Group F soccer match in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Junya Ito scores Japan's third goal past Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen during a World Cup Group F soccer match in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Japan's Ayase Ueda, center, scores their fourth goal with a header against Tunisia during the World Cup Group F soccer match in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Japan's Junya Ito scores his side's third goal against Tunisia during a World Cup Group F soccer match in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)