Alex Stalock passes first test of the preseason with strong showing

The Minnesota Wild fell to the Dallas Stars in overtime, 2-1 in their preseason opener. Despite the loss, there was still plenty of encouraging takeaways from the Wild’s preseason opener.

The fourth line for the Wild this season is going to be a lot of fun to watch with Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno. Hartman and Foligno play with so much energy and that was on display in the preseason opener. That line gets even more excitement with Joel Ericksson Ek potentially centering the two forwards.

“I thought they played well together,” Wild coach, Bruce Boudreau said. “That was our best line.”

Alex Stalock was solid between the pipes for the Wild. He finished the night with 19 saves. The Wild need Stalock to be better than he was last season to help take some of the load off Devan Dubnyk. If Stalock can prove to be a capable backup it will go a long way in helping the Wild get back to the postseason. It was an encouraging sign to see Stalock get off to a strong start.

Matt Dumba played for the first time since December and he looked to be ready for the regular season. He fired five shots on goal and just missed on an opportunity in the first period.

Fellow defensman, Brad Hunt also looked strong. Like Dumba, Hunt had a number of good looks, firing five shots on goal.

They say the best things come in threes and Carson Soucy was another defensmean that had a strong night. He had a beautiful pass to set up Hartman for the lone Wild goal of the night.

Mats Zuccarello showed off his playmaking ability by setting up Parise and Dumba. Parise’s shot hit the post and Dumba was robbed by Colton Point.

“He made a couple good plays,” Boudreau said. “He tries to make the hard play all the time. He’s very similar to (Mikael) Granlund they think they can make it all the time. So you better be ready when he’s got it.”

The Wild will be back in action tonight as they hit the road to take on the Winnipeg Jets. The puck drops at tonight at 7 p.m. central time.