ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Forget about local boys making good or the spurned goalie who stones his former team.

Home run hankies were the real story in the Minnesota Wild's 6-0 shutout of Dallas, the Stars' first-ever appearance at the Excel Energy Center.

Forget about the collective performances of Darby Hendrickson (two goals), Jeff Nielsen (game-winning goal) and Manny Fernandez (24 saves), who played great when so much was on the line emotionally.

They just wanted to credit the hankies. ... and how about Fletch?

	Despite his nerves, Fernandez covered enough of the net to shut out the former Cup champs and the team that let him go.

"When the guys were doing their sticks, we noticed the home run hankies and knew something was different," Hendrickson said.

The hankies in question were on every seat in the building and had the logos of each team on them with the phrase "The Next Stage" printed on them. Who cares what the heck that meant. All that mattered was that the fans waved them like crazy, especially after Nielsen gave the Wild an unexpected lead in the first period.

"We tried to rally around the fans waving the hankies," Nielsen admitted. Yes, these are actual quotes and neither guy was cajoled into providing them, either.

And how about from Fernandez -- once again, unsolicited: "We saw the towels (he should know their proper title), and we knew it was going to be a playoff game."

But humor aside, this was the Wild's playoff game -- the atmosphere was electric in the exact same manner.

And what coach Jacques Lemaire can take away from it is that three of his players, with the most pressure on them, came through. Big time.

For Hendrickson and Nielsen, the pressure and excitement came from facing the team they cheered for as youngsters growing up in Minnesota -- the team that left the Twin Cities while both were stars at the University of Minnesota. For Fernandez, it was the chance to prove himself in front of the team he served as the backup for before they left him exposed in the expansion draft last spring.

For all three, it could have been the most emotional game of their careers.

"When I stepped into warm-ups, my legs started shaking," said Fernandez, who knew his opponents well from facing them every day in practice last season. "Most of us didn't think we had a chance -- not to be negative.

"But if I could have dreamed of how the game would go, it would have been the way it went today."

That's pretty potent stuff for a regular-season game in pro sports. Sure, athletes get nervous, but Fernandez was talking about the kind of energy that prevents a person from eating and sleeping.

"But you beat it off. You have to," he said.

The whole day in the Twin Cities was improbable. People might have thought the Wild had a chance ... but not a chance to smoke the team that won the Cup two years ago. Just like people thought the Packers had a chance against the Vikings but never expected Green Bay to lead them most of the game en route to an upset a few hours before in nearby Minneapolis.

"If people were betting," Nielsen said, "they wouldn't have bet the Vikings would lose and we would win 6-0."

But maybe they would if they knew the hankies were on the Wild's side.

Brian A. Shactman is the NHL Editor for ESPN.com.