Preview: Wild, Stars Set for Pivotal Late-Season Showdown DALLAS (Interstat) — The Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild will meet Saturday at American Airlines Center in a game with significant implications for the Western Conference playoff picture. The Stars (50-32-0) enter the contest with a four-point edge over the Wild (46-36-0) in the standings. The matchup is the second in a stretch of six consecutive games scheduled between the two Central Division rivals to close the regular season, a scheduling quirk that will heavily determine final seeding. Dallas earned a 5-4 victory when the teams met in Texas on April 9. The season series is tied 2-2, with the road team winning three of the four contests. A key matchup will be Minnesota’s red-hot goaltender against a deep Dallas attack. Wild netminder Jesper Wallstedt arrives in stellar form, having won four of his last five starts while posting a .949 save percentage in that span. He stopped 34 of 36 shots in a 3-2 win over Anaheim on Tuesday. The Stars will counter with center Justin Hryckowian, who has been a consistent offensive contributor. He recorded a goal and an assist in Dallas’s 4-3 shootout win at Buffalo on Wednesday and also had an assist in the April 9 victory over Minnesota. Both teams are navigating the final games of the regular season. The Wild have won three of their last four, while the Stars have collected points in four straight games (3-0-1). The game will be a test of momentum, as the result could swing the psychological advantage in the tightly packed series before the teams immediately rematch in Dallas on Monday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT.