DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars needed two of their bigger names to step up to open the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And in Game 1 of their Western Conference first round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild at American Airlines Center on Thursday, three players did so in a big way.

Captain Jamie Benn had a goal and two assists, Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist and Kari Lehtonen stopped 22 shots in a 4-0 win.

"I thought he did a great job for us tonight with the saves and some of his puck handling to relieve pressure," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of Lehtonen.

It was Lehtonen's second career playoff shutout.

"It's great confidence for us to have our goaltender play the way he played. We've said all year we've got two great goaltenders, and we're fortunate to have them both. Kari (Lehtonen) played phenomenal tonight. I think the shutout shows he was calm and collected back there. A good start for him," Spezza said.

Rookie Radek Faksa, making his playoff debut, scored the eventual game-winner 3:53 into the second period, beating Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk high on his glove side with a wrist shot from the slot.

"We've been trying to get him all the experienced we can get him the past couple of months," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of Faksa. "He's really played well for us."

Jason Spezza and Patrick Eaves both scored while adding assists for Dallas, the top seed in the Western Conference.

"Three of the goals we had the puck. That's the bottom line," Wild interim coach John Torchetti said. "We got to make sure we manage the puck a lot better."

Dallas broke the deadlock 3:53 into the second period when Faksa scored from the slot. Ales Hemsky, appearing in his first playoff game since 2006 with Edmonton, started the sequence by stealing the puck from Jarret Stoll in the neutral zone.

Hemsky then fed Faksa, and the rookie center quickly converted to put the Stars ahead 1-0.

Spezza put Dallas up 2-0 with his 18th career playoff goal at 12:17 of the second period. After receiving a backhand pass from Eaves in the neutral zone, Spezza rushed up the right side of the ice.

Spezza first faked a slap shot from the right circle, a fake Dubnyk bit on. Spezza then scored with a wrist shot from the edge of the right circle that beat Dubnyk high and just inside the near post. It was Spezza's first playoff goal since April 23, 2012, when he scored for Ottawa against the New York Rangers.

"I've scored a few there (to the short side)," Spezza said. "I just kind of take what's open. I had good looks. (Dubnyk's) a big goalie. He made some good saves tonight."

Eaves scored a power-play goal off a rebound with 5:44 remaining in the third to make it 3-0. Dubnyk denied Spezza's slap shot from near the Wild blue line with a pad save, but Eaves popped in the rebound. Minnesota used a coach's challenge, arguing that Dubnyk was interfered with, but after a short review, the on-ice call stood.

Benn added an empty-net goal with four minutes remaining to cap the scoring.

Dubnyk stopped 28 of 31 shots in a losing effort.

"(Dubnyk) was pretty good, kept us in the game. Just can't give them so many power-play chances," Torchetti said.

Dallas leads the best-of-7 series 1-0 with Game 2 set for Saturday.

"The most important thing is we've got to understand we can play with these guys. We can beat these guys. There's no reason to think otherwise," Dubnyk said. "We're going to have to be better than we were tonight for sure. But if there's anybody in here that thinks we can't beat them, they shouldn't. We've shown it and we've got the guys in here."

NOTES: Both teams were without significant firepower because of injuries, with Stars C Tyler Seguin (Achilles tendon) and Wild LW Zach Parise (upper body) out. ... The Wild also scratched D Christian Folin, C Erik Haula (lower body), C Jordan Schroeder and LW Thomas Vanek (upper body). ... The Stars additional scratches were D Jordie Benn, LW Travis Moen, D Patrik Nemeth, D Jamie Oleksiak and RW Brett Ritchie (lower body). ... Wild C Zac Dalpe made his playoff debut. ... Stars C Radek Faksa, C Mattias Janmark, D Stephen Johns and D John Klingberg were making their postseason debuts. ... Wild G Devan Dubnyk started his 11th career playoff game. ... Stars G Kari Lehtonen made his seventh career playoff start and appeared in his ninth postseason game.