ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Stanley Cup playoffs’ must-watch first-round series has had its first did-you-watch-that game.

Wyatt Johnston scored in double overtime at 12:54 a.m. on Thursday morning to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 win and 2-1 series lead over the Minnesota Wild going into Saturday afternoon’s Game 4 between the Central Division heavyweights and Stanley Cup contenders.

If Minnesota loses this series, it’ll be thinking all summer about the five power plays it had in the third period and overtime in Game 3.

After rallying from a 2-0 deficit on goals by Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek and Michael McCarron, the Wild had two chances to turn a 3-2 lead into a 4-2 lead on early-third-period power plays, only to fail miserably.

They then had three power plays to break a 3-3 tie — two in overtime — after Matt Duchene scored a power-play goal to tie it. That came after Duchene, on the same shift, denied Matt Boldy a shorthanded goal with a hustling backcheck and stick check.

“Your heart goes in your throat,” Duchene said of his goal-saving backcheck. “It’s a ‘holy s—’ moment, for sure.”

The Wild drew two power plays in the first overtime, one that carried into the second, and the closest they came to scoring was Kirill Kaprizov hitting the post.

So you just knew what was going to happen when Dallas earned a second consecutive power play after dead-tired rookie Danila Yurov airmailed a puck high into the stands in double overtime.

On the ensuing power play, Johnston scored his second career overtime winner by extending his stick and redirecting Miro Heiskanen’s twice-deflected shot past Jesper Wallstedt, sending what had been a loud, anxious crowd, on its feet throughout both overtimes, home disenchanted.

“It hit Moose’s finger first,” Wallstedt said of Marcus Foligno. “He’s just trying to do his job and block it. I still had a good sight on it and was going to grab it, and then it goes off of Johnston’s blade and then his shaft and then over my shoulder. That’s what happens.”

When a best-of-seven series is tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 holds an all-time series record of 245-124 (.664).

“Whether we were 4-for-4 on the power play tonight or 0-for-whatever we were, that doesn’t change how we have to approach the next game,” Quinn Hughes said of the Wild’s 1-for-7 power play. “We’re gonna need it again. And obviously felt like we had our looks to be the difference and just didn’t come.”

As far as Wild playoff clunkers go, this looked like it was going to be classic from the outset.

The game ops brought the electricity during one heck of a hype-up pregame that had the crowd buzzing. Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson brought it during one electric “Let’s Play Hockey” that had the crowd erupting.

But in just 85 seconds, the Stars silenced the crowd with a Mikko Rantanen power-play goal after one of the Wild’s most gentlemanly, least penalized players ever, Jonas Brodin, was whistled for tripping.

By the 13:48 mark, it was 2-0 Dallas, with the crowd growing even more tense as Boldy was in the trainer’s room after being plunked on the back of the head by Stars captain Jamie Benn’s stick.

After Johansson cut the deficit in half late in the first, Boldy reemerged in the second and put forth a highlight-reel shift to help the Wild tie the game five minutes in. He weaved through the neutral zone, split three Stars defenders between the circles and laid the puck on a tee for an Eriksson Ek goal into a gaping net.

“Just trying to make a play,” Boldy said. “I didn’t think I had a shot, so just tried to get around them. Ek did a great job getting open.”

But after McCarron gave the Wild a 3-2 lead seconds after they had killed consecutive minors, including a five-on-three, they had two golden opportunities to extend their lead to on power plays, and the Stars’ penalty kill extinguished both.

Johnston’s goal came during his 30 minutes, 12 seconds of ice time, most amongst Stars forwards. Hughes logged 43:47, while Heiskanen logged 43:05.

“If you win 6-1 or lose in triple overtime, it’s the same, and it’s going to be a long series for a reason,” McCarron said. “And right now, it seems like it’s neck and neck between the two.”

‘Tons of penalties’

When Boldy’s clearing attempt during a Wild penalty kill soared over the neutral zone, over the offensive zone, over Jake Oettinger and over the glass from 180 feet away, it looked like it would spell disaster for the Wild.

Instead, it turned into a nightmare for Dallas.

Boldy’s delay-of-game penalty late in the second period — with Ryan Hartman already in the box for cross-checking Radek Faksa — gave the Stars 41 seconds of a five-on-three power play. The Wild penalty kill stood firm, though, as Jake Middleton won a puck battle with Duchene in the corner to get a critical clear.

Then, just as the clock ticked down on Boldy’s penalty, Jared Spurgeon beat Dallas’ Mavrik Bourque to a puck behind the net and nudged it to Brodin, who found Nick Foligno for the outlet pass, while McCarron trucked his way up the middle of the ice. Foligno found him in stride at center ice, and McCarron sniped a shot through a Thomas Harley screen to Oettinger’s blocker side — the fourth such Minnesota goal in the last two games — to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead and send the home crowd into a tizzy.

Still, the Wild were hardly celebrating their penalty kill. One of the league’s most disciplined teams in the regular season, Minnesota gave Dallas eight power plays, and the Stars scored on three of them.

“It’s been tons of penalties on both sides,” McCarron said. “First round, sometimes it’s like that. The refs are amped up just like us and maybe trigger-happy. But at the same time, I mean, not ideal. They got three power-play goals, and it’s probably the difference in the game.

“Taking a lot of minors right now. We’ve talked about it. We’re gonna continue to harp on it, and hopefully this is a lesson for us.”

Quieting the crowd early

The Stars know well how raucous Grand Casino Arena can get, and were just hoping to weather the storm early on. They did one better, with Rantanen’s early power-play goal quieting the home crowd almost immediately.

“It’s always (like that on) home ice, everybody’s really excited to play in front of their fans,” Rantanen said before the game. “They’re going to be really humming at the start, so we’ve got to match the intensity, the physicality. … It’s about executing under pressure.”

Dallas did. Minnesota didn’t. An uncharacteristic offensive-zone tripping penalty by Brodin — essentially shoving Sam Steel to the ice along the boards — left the Wild shorthanded, and the Stars didn’t waste any time. Jason Robertson caught Brock Faber flat-footed as he streaked down the left wing, and Rantanen blew past Boldy on the other side. Robertson hit the net-crashing Rantanen with a perfect pass, and the big Finn chipped it past Wallstedt for the early lead.

Talk the talk, but not walk the walk

Marcus Foligno gave the Stars bulletin board material after the Wild’s Game 2 loss in Dallas by saying that the Stars can’t “hang” with the Wild at five-on-five and thus try to goad them into power plays.

Well, Foligno has not had a good series at five-on-five, and that continued in the first period Wednesday, when he got the puck in the slot and instead of turning and putting it on net, sent a sloppy pass a few feet in front of him toward a surprised McCarron.

Duchene picked it off to trigger a two-on-one with Robertson, who ripped home his third goal of the series for a 2-0 lead.

To the dismay of the crowd, the goal came after Benn’s hit to the back of Boldy’s head went uncalled, same as a Benn high-stick to Yurov’s face shortly before.

Robertson did take a penalty late in the period that led to a Wild power play. The No. 1 unit, without Boldy and Mats Zuccarello, was a mess, but the second unit came out and cut the deficit in half when Bobby Brink recorded his first career playoff point by setting up Johansson’s first goal in 11 playoff games and 17th of his career.

Zuccarello, Trenin and more injuries

The Wild entered the game already without Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin, who were considered game-time decisions with upper-body injuries. Zuccarello missed his second straight game (after receiving a Game 1 elbow to the face from Tyler Myers) and Trenin his first following an open-ice hit by Colin Blackwell in Game 2.

Brink and Nico Sturm played in their place.

Then in the first period, the Wild looked like they had lost Boldy.

Boldy was in the slot in his own zone, turning his body in an attempt to block a shot when Benn came flying across, his stick making contact and knocking Boldy to the ice. Boldy was briefly checked out by the Wild training staff and headed to the bench and down the tunnel after, he said, the concussion spotter pulled him. Before that, he appeared to show the referee a video clip on an iPad of the play. Wild coach John Hynes had an animated conversation with the referees, too.

There was no penalty on the play.

Foligno had an injury scare, as well. Late in the second period, he went down to block a shot on the penalty kill, taking a puck off the leg. But Duchene fell on top of him, and a bloodied Foligno laid on the ice for a few moments. Duchene came back and took a swing at Foligno, who was ready to fight. Foligno tossed off his glove and helmet as he left the ice and headed to the dressing room. The veteran winger did return for the start of the third period, but the refs didn’t know why Foligno’s face was bloody. They called a major so they could review it, then rescinded the penalty on Duchene.

The Wild have Black Aces Hunter Haight, Ben Jones and Matt Kiersted practicing with the big club just in case they’re needed in the playoffs.

“What we did was we just had some guys come over that, you know, they sit in the meetings. They have an idea what’s going on, skate with the guys,” Hynes said. “So it’s more not that they’re going to come in the lineup tonight, but it’s more to get them up to date with meetings and what’s going on with the series. I think it’s important for them, if they’re called upon.”

A 75-year-old man has been detained after Miami-Dade deputies say he shot and killed his son after a domestic dispute in Palmetto Bay.

This happened, according to investigators,  at approximately 4:49 p.m. in the area of SW 168th Street and 92nd Avenue.

When deputies arrived, they found the elderly man, who had not yet been identified, and immediately detained him for questioning.

Afterwards, they conducted a security sweep and found an adult male, 47, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

Deputies say this isn’t the first time they have responded to the home.

“We have responded to this particular residence in the past due to mental health-type incidents,” MDSO PIO Detective Argemis “AC” Colome said.

Deputies say the dispatcher heard a dispute happening over the phone during the 911 call, but it’s unclear what led to the shooting and who was having the mental health crisis.

“The individual who shot was the father, and the male deceased on the scene was the son,” Colome said. 

Neighbors reacted to this family tragedy with shock. 

“So sad, a little bit concerned cause maybe you’re, you know, you’re staying somewhere, and you don’t know what’s actually happening at the other houses,”  Giorgos Kollilekas, who lives in the area, said.  

Colome said that there is no danger to the community as this was the result of a domestic dispute. 

“There’s always help, please, there’s a lot of hotlines, there’s a lot of numbers. You can call us. At the end of the day, getting help early can mitigate situations like this,” Colome said. 

No other information has been released, including the identities of those involved or what caused the dispute.

The investigation is ongoing.

Well it has rapidly turned into prospect week for the Braves’ rotation, as a 1.0 inning Reynaldo Lopez start on Tuesday in the middle of a stretch of 10 games straight sent the Braves’ pitching into a scramble to cover innings. An up and down 3.0 inning start from Didier Fuentes resulted in Thursday’s scheduled starter Martin Perez being burnt to cover another 3.0 innings. Fuentes was probably better than his line would indicate, as he got a bit unlucky with some BABIP, while striking out 7 batters across 3.0 innings and generated 15 whiffs on 74 pitches. That said, he was not as his best, particularly in the first inning. So that leaves us with JR Ritchie making his MLB debut on Thursday as a consensus top 100 prospect and top 2 prospect in the organization. Ritchie made a real push for a rotation spot in Spring Training and has been largely effective in AAA so far. Ritchie has a deep pitch mix and will be fun to watch on Thursday, as he can hopefully can provide some depth for a Braves team that desperately needs it.