With Heiskanen back, Stars soar, snag 3-1 lead

DALLAS -- Mikael Granlund had his archetypal vocation playoff chapeau trick, Miro Heiskanen returned from a 42-game absence, Jake Oettinger stopped 31 shots and the Dallas Stars defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 connected Tuesday night, taking a 3-1 bid pb implicit the top-seeded nine successful the 2nd circular of the Western Conference playoffs.

Dallas manager Pete DeBoer, successful speaking with reporters connected Monday, sent retired signals that Heiskanen's instrumentality was near, saying "I'm inactive sticking by what I projected: that we would spot him successful the 2nd round." And helium was right, arsenic his apical blueliner assisted connected Granlund's 3rd extremity of the night, and finished with 19 shifts, covering 14:52 clip connected ice.

Mikko Rantanen upped his NHL-leading playoff full to 19 points, including 9 goals, with the superior assistance connected Granlund's 2nd extremity that broke a 1-1 necktie with 2:08 near successful the 2nd play and enactment the Stars up to stay.

Granlund did a treble fist pump from his knees, past popped up to his skates aft his 3rd goal, his 4th successful these playoffs, connected a powerfulness play with 12:37 near successful the game. The 33-year-old guardant had scored aggregate goals lone 1 clip successful his erstwhile 69 playoff games, for Minnesota successful 2014.

Game 5 is astatine Winnipeg connected Thursday, erstwhile the Stars volition person their archetypal accidental to beforehand to the West last for the 3rd twelvemonth successful a row.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets, who person mislaid each 5 of their roadworthy games this postseason.

Heiskanen was successful the lineup for the archetypal clip since Jan. 28 aft missing the past 32 regular-season games and archetypal 10 playoff games due to the fact that of a genu injury. Throughout the postseason, though, helium has been skating with the team, gathering up the play towards his return.

Granlund notched his archetypal extremity aft skating down the mediate implicit some bluish lines, and a nifty determination astir Brandon Tanev adjacent mid-ice, earlier snapping a 38-foot changeable past Connor Hellebuyck for a 1-0 pb conscionable 8 1/2 minutes into the game.

Hellebuyck has present mislaid 9 consecutive playoff roadworthy games since winning Game 1 astatine Vegas successful 2023, earlier the Golden Knights won 4 successful a row. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner, the odds-on favourite to triumph the apical goalie grant again this season, has allowed 24 goals successful the 5 roadworthy losses successful these playoffs.

The Jets began the 2nd play with a infinitesimal near connected a powerfulness play and Dallas technically killed the tripping penalty. But Ehlers scored from a terrible angle, his changeable from the bottommost of the ellipse to near of Oettinger going nether the goalie's legs and ricocheting into the nett portion Tyler Seguin was coming retired of the box.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.