Mikael Granlund records hat trick in Game 4, Stars extend Jets' road woes: Takeaways

New York Times

14-05-2025

DALLAS — The Dallas Stars' other Finnish import put them on the verge of a return trip to the Western Conference final.
Mikael Granlund scored three goals and Jake Oettinger made 31 saves in the Stars' 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 of their second-round series Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. The win gave Dallas a 3-1 series lead and extended the Jets' staggering road playoff losing streak to nine games, dating to Game 1 of their first-round series against Vegas in 2023.
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Mikko Rantanen has, understandably, gotten most of the attention during his remarkable postseason run. But before the Stars stunned the hockey world by acquiring the Moose, it was another Finn who appeared to be Dallas' big in-season addition. Granlund was averaging approximately one point a game for San Jose when Stars general manager Jim Nill sent the Sharks first-round and third-round picks for Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci on Feb. 1.
Granlund was getting top-line minutes in San Jose, so it's not a huge surprise that his numbers dipped a bit when he got to Dallas. In a mostly middle-six role, he still had seven goals and 14 assists in 31 games. But after scoring just one goal in the first 10 games of the postseason, Granlund came out flying in Game 4. He threw his body around — he was credited with five hits through two periods — broke up two Winnipeg rushes with a quick stick and scored three times. His first goal was on a power play — off a Dylan DeMelo holding-the-stick penalty that Granlund drew — taking a Thomas Harley drop pass in his own end, dancing past Brandon Tanev, racing right up the gut and snapping off a shot through Neal Pionk to beat Connor Hellebuyck.
After Winnipeg tied the game with a sharp-angle Nikolaj Ehlers shot that caught Oettinger by surprise, Granlund gave Dallas the lead again with 2:08 remaining in the second period, keeping the puck on a two-on-one with Roope Hintz and beating Hellebuyck clean again with another wrist shot.
Granlund then gave the Stars some badly needed breathing room 7:23 into the third period, potting a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle with three seconds left in a double-minor high-sticking penalty to Haydn Fleury.
Hellebuyck stopped 21 of 24 shots for the Jets, who went 0-for-3 on the power play.
Here are some takeaways from Game 4:
Before Game 4, Jets coach Scott Arniel said: 'The biggest thing that a head coach once told me — and I've told our group — is there isn't a home or a road way to play. There's only the right way.'
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And for the overwhelming majority of Tuesday's game, the Jets did play the right way. They forechecked well. They won battles in front of their own net. They kept Rantanen from scoring a goal, controlled the flow of play and spent more time in the Stars' zone than in their own end of the ice.
If Game 4 had been Winnipeg's only road loss of the playoffs, the story would be about how well the Jets had played, despite their result. Now that they've lost every road game of the playoffs — and can't win the series without winning Game 6 in Dallas — it's fair to put a microscope on the Jets' road struggles.
The Stars' two goals were the direct results of Jets mistakes: first, an ill-advised penalty, then poor rush coverage on the Stars' power play — and Hellebuyck's failure to stop the shot. In the second period, Nino Niederreiter correctly covered Pionk's foray into the offensive zone, guarding the blue line and picking up the Stars' clearing attempt, but he flubbed his backhand chip-in, creating a long two-on-one for Granlund's second goal. The third goal was punishment for Fleury's accidental high-stick on Roope Hintz.
Tiny, individual moments. Massive consequences. The Jets haven't won a playoff road game in two years — and now they're not guaranteed another shot.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer cautioned against expecting too much from defenseman Miro Heiskanen in his first game since Jan. 28. And DeBoer was careful to ease Heiskanen into the lineup, using him sparingly on the second power-play unit and not at all on the penalty kill. The man who was fifth in the NHL in average ice time during the regular season, at more than 25 minutes per game, played just 14:52 as DeBoer went with seven defensemen.
Heiskanen looked rusty at times, and was hardly his usual dominant self. Winnipeg severely out-attempted and out-chanced Dallas — but didn't score — at five-on-five with Heiskanen on the ice. And his turnover just inside the blue line on the power play led to a Kyle Connor breakaway — Heiskanen couldn't catch him, only able to get a weak hook on him as he approached the crease — but Oettinger bailed him out with a pad save. Shortly afterward, with Dallas still on the power play, Heiskanen teed up Granlund's one-timer for his third goal.
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Colin Blackwell, who's been an energizer for the Stars in these playoffs, was scratched to accommodate Heiskanen.
'Those decisions are always difficult because you're taking out players that have not only helped us all season, but have made some big contributions so far in the playoffs,' DeBoer said. 'The 11/7 thing's no big deal. It gives Mikko Rantanan some more ice time, so that's an easy one. The scratch decisions are tough, but our group understands.'
Fleury's four-minute high sticking penalty was an accident — an errant follow through on an exit pass just over three minutes into the third period. His stick caught Hintz in the face all the same. If it had been the follow through of a shot, it wouldn't have been a penalty — but it was ruled a pass and then upheld by video review.
It was a brutal turn for the Jets, down 2-1 in a must-win game, but Granlund's hat trick goal was worse. The Jets were three seconds from escaping the double-minor with a gutsy kill, punctuated by blocks from Brandon Tanev, one great save by Hellebuyck, and a short-handed breakaway by Connor — the tying goal scripted on his stick — that Oettinger turned aside.
The Stars pressed and the Jets held until they couldn't hold anymore. Matt Duchene had just rung a scorching shot off the post when Heiskanen found Granlund for the one-timer that put Game 4 out of reach. The Jets were three seconds from escape.
THROW THOSE HATS 🤠🤠🤠
GRANLUND HAS A HAT TRICK IN GAME 4!!! pic.twitter.com/pIvc7X2XnQ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 14, 2025
The goal that Oettinger gave up in Game 4 was brutal, as Ehlers somehow beat him clean, unscreened, from a very sharp angle, from 33 feet out. But it was the only mistake Oettinger made. The trusty Stars netminder came up big time and time again. Among his best stops were gloving down a Gabe Vilardi shot in the opening minutes, getting his left foot on a Connor chance after Alex Iafallo wheeled around the net late in the second, stopping Connor's short-handed breakaway, getting in front of a big slapper from a hard-charging Josh Morrissey midway through the third, and denying Mark Scheifele shortly after that.
Hellebuyck, again, didn't fare as well. Yes, two of the Stars' goals were power-play tallies, but all three Granlund goals came from distance. His road save percentage in these playoffs remains sub-.800.
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Winnipeg's new forward lines controlled play in the first period, outshooting Dallas 10-4 at five-on-five and creating quality scoring chances for Vilardi, Ehlers and Connor — among others — plus a pair of odd-man rushes that started off looking dangerous. They even hemmed in Dallas its own zone for multiple shifts, including a hand-off shift from Adam Lowry's line to Mark Scheifele's line with Connor and Iafallo.
It was a shift that should have led to a Jets goal, but instead led to an ill-advised Dylan DeMelo penalty for holding the stick. Granlund was the player he held up in the neutral zone after a 1:02 shift for Granlund — it's hard to believe he was a major rush threat that required that kind of impediment.
Mind you, it was Granlund who then went one-against-the-world on the Stars' ensuing power play, eventually shooting through Pionk's stick check and beating Hellebuyck from range. The Jets had done almost everything right but still exited the first period down 1-0 because of big moments gone horribly wrong.
(Photo of Mikael Granlund: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)