At 17:47 of the third period, with Minnesota’s net empty and the Wild using an extra attacker, Esa Lindell blocked a Kirill Kaprizov shot. It was Lindell’s fourth block of the night, and it arrived in the precise stretch when a one-goal lead becomes less a possession to manage than a problem to survive.
That intervention helped Dallas leave St. Paul with a 2-1 preseason victory, with very little comfort for the Stars through the final period. Minnesota finished with 27 shots to Dallas’ 18 and produced 13 of them in the third period.
Casey DeSmith stopped all 13, while Lindell and the other Dallas defenders removed some attempts from the goaltender’s workload without turning the game into a tidy defensive clinic.
Lindell had done similar work much earlier, blocking attempts by Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman and Yakov Trenin in the first period. Those three blocks came before Dallas scored. His fourth came with a lead to protect and Minnesota using an extra attacker. He was contributing before the Stars had any cushion and again when they could scarcely afford to lose it.
The timing is clear. Matt Boldy recorded Minnesota’s final shot on goal at 17:22. Twenty-five seconds later, Lindell blocked Kaprizov’s attempt. No Wild shot on goal followed. That does not mean Dallas suddenly controlled the closing minutes; it means one defensive intervention helped prevent another attempt from becoming one more assignment for DeSmith.
DeSmith supplied the larger share of the sustained resistance. He finished with 26 saves on 27 shots, allowing only Joel Eriksson Ek’s 1:54 second-period goal. Minnesota’s third-period pressure was real in the simplest possible accounting: 13 shots to two.
Dallas’ only shots in the period came from Thomas Harley at 11:47 and Wyatt Johnston at 11:50, leaving DeSmith to handle the rest of the scoreboard’s workload.
Dallas at least found goals from players who did not need a parade of chances. Radek Faksa opened the scoring at 9:18 of the first period, assisted by Oskar Bäck and Joel Kiviranta. Faksa had one shot on goal, and it became the game’s first goal; Bäck and Kiviranta each played less than 12 minutes.
Their early goal gave Dallas an advantage after Lindell’s three blocks and DeSmith’s saves had helped keep Minnesota scoreless.
Harley restored the lead at 18:38 of the second, just 1:22 before intermission. Mikko Rantanen and Jamie Benn assisted on the even-strength goal. Lindell finished with no shots and no points, so his contribution was easy to miss beside the scorers.
He still played 19:09 and led Dallas with four blocks. Harley supplied the goal; Lindell’s work helped keep a slim lead usable when the Stars stopped adding to it.