Mikko Rantanen scored a pure hat trick within the second interval and the Dallas Stars took a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Sport 1 of their second-round NHL playoff sequence on Wednesday
Jake Oettinger stopped 30 photographs for Dallas, which is dealing with Winnipeg within the post-season for the primary time.
Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, who snapped a four-game residence win streak at Canada Life Centre. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves.
Scheifele returned to motion after struggling an upper-body harm in Sport 5 of Winnipeg’s opening-round sequence in opposition to the St. Louis Blues.
The Stars welcomed again winger Jason Robertson, who injured his knee within the staff’s last sport of the common season and missed Dallas’s whole seven-game first-round matchup with the Colorado Avalanche.
Sport 2 of the best-of-seven sequence goes Friday in Winnipeg.
The Jets earned home-ice benefit by the playoffs after ending the common season with a league-best 116 factors. Dallas was second within the Central Division and third within the Western Convention with 106 factors.
Winnipeg gained three of 4 video games in opposition to the Stars through the common season, together with a 4-0 shutout on April 10 when the golf equipment have been vying for prime spot within the division.
The Jets didn’t get their first shot on aim till simply over seven minutes into the primary interval Wednesday. The Stars had eight at that time.
Winnipeg had the primary energy play of the sport, the place Gabriel Vilardi tried to place the puck in across the publish, however Oettinger stretched his skate in opposition to the pipe.
Hellebuyck stopped Wyatt Johnson on a breakaway within the final minute of a gap interval that noticed the Jets outshoot the guests 13-12 and outhit them 14-10.
Niederreiter obtained the offered out crowd cheering when his sharp-angled backhand beat Oettinger on the 3:30 mark of the second interval. He grew to become the NHL’s first Swiss-born participant to skate in 100 profession post-season contests.
Rantanen tied it up at 8:43 together with his sixth aim of the playoffs when he poked the puck in after a rebound.
His second aim was a tip of Thomas Harley’s level shot at 14:21, and he made it 3-1 on the facility play two minutes later when his shot went in off Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg.
Rantanen, who additionally scored a third-period hat trick within the Stars’ Sport 7 win over Colorado within the first spherical, is the third participant in NHL historical past — and the primary in almost 40 years — with hat tips in consecutive playoff video games.
Edmonton’s Jari Kurri achieved the feat in Video games 5 and 6 of the 1985 Campbell Convention last, and Chicago’s Doug Bentley did the identical in Sport 4 and 5 of the 1944 Stanley Cup last.
Rantanen prolonged his level streak to 4 video games with eight targets and 6 assists throughout the stretch. He has 15 factors this post-season.
The Finnish sniper’s third tally of the evening didn’t maintain Winnipeg again for lengthy.
Scheifele reduce his staff’s deficit to a single aim 57 seconds later together with his third aim of the playoffs.
Winnipeg obtained its fourth energy play of the sport early within the third and got here up empty once more.
Hellebuyck was pulled with just below two minutes on the sport clock. Oettinger was swarmed, however nonetheless stopped Scheifele from in tight.
The Jets relied on late heroics of their Sport 7 win over the Blues, the place Cole Perfetti levelled the rating at 3-3 with three seconds to go in regulation. Captain Adam Lowry then scored in double extra time to ship Winnipeg to the second spherical of the playoffs for the primary time since 2021.
