ST. PAUL, Minn. — Finally, as a jubilant Marcus Foligno exclaimed in an excited yet impressively businesslike postgame locker room Thursday night, the Minnesota Wild were on the right side of a handshake line for a change.

No making the playoffs followed by a less than two-week postseason. No dead-silent, somber locker room while their first-round opponent celebrates down the hall. No early offseason.

And best yet, in the same year that we’ve no longer had to hear over and over about the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter buyout pain, the 25th anniversary of this franchise has once and for all exorcised the first-round exit narrative that, like it or not, had come to define this team.

“Obviously, I know the history of everything,” goalie Jesper Wallstedt said after the Wild beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 to advance to the second round for the first time since 2015. “I see our fans when we scored our fourth goal. I looked back through the glass, and I see someone crying in the stands. I realize how big this is for our fan base. Not just us, but there’s so many more people who are with us on this road and this journey.”

Those fans, who didn’t sit down for a second the final nine minutes after Quinn Hughes capped a signature performance with his second goal and third point to snap a 2-2 tie, absolutely made the building shake when Matt Boldy took the puck from Jamie Benn, escaped Miro Heiskanen and bulled his way toward a wide-open cage for the first of his two empty-net goals.

“I don’t think we can say enough about how great they’ve been and the energy they’ve brought,” said Boldy, who scored six times in the series. “It’s just so fun to be out there playing in front of them.”

Fans stayed long after the final horn sounded, chanting everything from “Boldy!” to “Let’s go Wild!” The excitement was palpable, but so was the relief that this terrific hockey team didn’t blow its latest chance to chase Lord Stanley’s Cup.

That’s why owner Craig Leipold made a rare appearance in the locker room, bear-hugging players like Brock Faber and congratulating stars like Kirill Kaprizov, yelling, “F—ing awesome!”

That’s why a shirtless Jake Middleton was screaming, “How great was that?”

Why Joel Eriksson Ek emerged in the third period ready for action after looking like he broke every bone in his right leg. Why Mats Zuccarello emerged from a concussion in Game 5 and made sure to provide a needed boost. Why Jared Spurgeon’s playoff beard is, dare we say, thick.

“I’ve finally hit puberty,” the proud Wild captain said.

And Thursday’s series win is also part of why Hughes was so excited to be traded to a team with the depth, star power and goaltending to make a run.

“I just think we have such a good team,” Hughes said. “That Stars team, they were the third-best team in the league throughout the regular season. They were a helluva team. A really, really good team. Bolds and Kirill and Ekker and Zuccy and Brock, I mean, they were all beasts this series. Our depth scoring and how hard we are to play against and how good Wally was. Our coaching staff and how they coached us. They kind of just preached continuing to attack. There wasn’t a lot of ‘Keep it safe,’ ‘Do this, do that.’ We were trying to win, which I love.”

The Wild’s eight straight first-round exits and zero second-round appearances since 2015 are brought up every April.

By opposing fans. By diehard fans. By reporters. By players in the locker room.

That playoff disappointment was worn by Spurgeon, Foligno, Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, Ryan Hartman and even the somewhat newbies like Kaprizov, Boldy and Faber.

“I’ve been here now for quite some time. You come up short first round, you think there’s a curse,” Foligno said. “You gotta bring sage or something to this arena and start burning it. I’m just happy for our fans and just excited for our organization and for the guys that have put in a lot of work. The core that’s been here. Spurgeon that’s been leading the way since Day 1 I’ve been here.

“You just see the work ethic we come to the rink every day, and it’s moments like this that you ask what it’s all about. The best thing about having this sweet taste of victory is you want more of it. It’s such a great feeling.”

Against one heck of an opponent, the Wild showed that this team is indeed different, that it’s learned from the disappointing finishes and that it’s tired of reliving the same script.

“This is a new team,” Faber said. “We write our own story.”

“We have a lot of older guys that have been through it that have won and had success,” Boldy added. “I think you learn so much throughout those other playoff series. Not that I’m old, but I feel like I was young during those and didn’t know what to expect or what the expectation was and stuff. I think it was just a group of guys that were ready to take that step between me, Kirill, Jared, Marcus, Brodes, Ekky, all these guys. You learn. You learn the ways that you need to play in order to make that jump.

“From Game 1, that was the mindset, that we weren’t going to let that happen again.”

Yes, the Wild were dominated in the special-teams battle. But they outscored the Stars 13-4 at five-on-five. It was an all-around even-strength clinic. They kept the Stars from getting to high-danger areas — a problem against them in the past. They blocked oodles of shots, closed off the neutral zone, didn’t allow odd-man rushes and absolutely annihilated Dallas physically.

“They couldn’t play with us by the end of the series,” Faber said. “Their D didn’t want to go back to get pucks.”

That’s everyone from Marcus and Nick Foligno to Yakov Trenin and Nico Sturm to Michael McCarron.

“Every time I talk to my dad and call him and ask him how my game was, he’s always talking about that fourth line and how much he loves them,” Hughes said.

Things just felt different this series. The way the Wild came out in Dallas in Game 1 and routed the Stars. The way they brushed off consecutive losses and what could have been a double-overtime gut punch. The way they played with the lead, rallied from deficits and never felt like they were at risk of letting this opportunity slip away.

The Wild controlled stretches the way they haven’t in a series, maybe ever.

“We have so many special guys on this team, and we have a balanced lineup and an effective lineup and guys that care and can play in a lot of experienced positions,” Foligno said. “Our D corps, I feel, gives us a chance every night. Our goaltending has been unbelievable. It is a recipe for success, and we’re showing it.”

Hughes is the one addition who elevated everything. He gave the Wild a swagger and confidence the second he arrived in the dressing room, and on Thursday night, we saw just how much he can take over a game. He determined the pace. He defended impeccably. And every scoring chance seemed to run through him as he finished with three points and became the first defenseman in franchise history to score a series-clinching goal.

Game breakers like Kaprizov and Boldy matter this time of year. And having a star on the back end like Hughes does even more so.

The way he holds onto that puck and spins away from trouble and is constantly creating, there’s just nobody like him. Period.

But as Spurgeon said over and over again Thursday night, the focus shifts immediately, because on the horizon are the Colorado Avalanche, a Presidents’ Trophy winner for a reason. They’re fast, skilled and have star power just like Minnesota.

This doesn’t feel like a team that’s ready to exhale and call it a day, though.

“We didn’t have the goal to win the first round,” Boldy said. “You dream big.”

The fans flowed out of Grand Casino Arena onto 7th and Kellogg ready to celebrate. They should. They’ve earned it, just like the players.

“The building was so loud that my ears started hurting,” Wallstedt said. “It was amazing. I’m so happy for our fan base.”

The sense of satisfaction Thursday night had been a long time coming. And very much deserved and earned.

But, as Nick Foligno said after Thursday’s game, “This is just the start.”

The Wild weren’t conducting themselves Thursday night like the job is done. That should be music to the ears of Wild fans, who so want to finally see a long playoff run.

For 11 years, this franchise has been defined by the same line: Can’t get past the first round.

That’s gone now.

Now, for the first time in 23 years, they want to get past the second round. They can’t wait to try.

“Obviously, you go through second place,” Marcus Foligno said. “Now you’ve got to go through first place. It’s going to be another big battle, and we’re mentally ready for it.”