The depths of Team Finland, right here in Dallas, know no bounds.
In a postseason that has been completely owned by Mikko Rantanen, he was all too happy to step aside for 24 hours Tuesday to allow Miro Heiskanen to take center stage. The Stars’ 30-minute man on defense was returning to the ice for the first time since suffering a knee injury Jan. 28 against Vegas. Coach Pete DeBoer announced at the morning skate that Heiskanen would be a game-time decision, which meant, for all practical purposes, he was back.
So, naturally, the star of Game 4 was — Mikael Granlund, also known as the third part of the Stars’ Finnish line, which now has the Winnipeg Jets thinking about the finish of their season.
Despite winning the Presidents’ Trophy as the club with the NHL’s best record, the Jets trail Dallas 3-1 and still have not won a road game this entire postseason. The Stars kept Winnipeg’s road record the opposite of spotless when Granlund produced a hat trick for a 3-1 Dallas victory.
“What he does on the ice is one thing,” DeBoer said, “but his leadership in our Finnish group there, he’s kind of the elder statesman. He’s won internationally. He’s got a lot of respect from that group.”
Granlund’s heroics — a goal in each period — helped offset the fact that the Stars did not have much going for them early Tuesday at the AAC. Through two periods, the Jets had outshot them 20-13 and had the far better true scoring chances on their side. But they didn’t have a goalie playing at even an average NHL level which remains the most baffling story of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Connor Hellebuyck, the Team USA goalie who started while Dallas’ Jake Oettinger served as his backup in the 4 Nations Face-Off in Feburary, had his fifth poor road game of the postseason. Hellebuyck is almost certain to win his third Vezina Trophy when awards are handed out in June, but he had given up at least five goals in the first four road games against the Blues and Stars. Even with a smaller output from Dallas in Game 4, Hellebuyck did not distinguish himself. Granlund’s first goal came after entering the zone unattended and firing straight at him from about 40 feet off.
Goal.
“I’m sure that’s the one he would want back,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said.
The second goal actually came on a better scoring opportunity but it was a 2-on-1 where the Winnipeg defenseman was taking away the cross-ice pass as he is supposed to do. So Hellebuyck needed to stop what was right in front of him from his left hand side. Granlund did as as many have done with success in the playoffs — shoot high at Hellebuyck’s glove hand — and the Stars took a 2-1 lead into the third period.
“You know it’s good to shoot every once in a while,” Granlund said.
Granny shot for the hat trick! 😱😱😱
— SportsDay Stars (@dmn_stars) May 14, 2025
Mikael Granlund's third of the night gives the Stars some breathing room.
(Via @DallasStars | #TexasHockey)pic.twitter.com/7d6i4ZKSxh
In between, Winnipeg got its only score just after the close of a power play with Nikolaj Ehlers beating Oettinger from an extreme angle to tie the score.
But in the third, Roope Hintz — the other Finnish forward who used to be known as the Stars’ best player in the playoffs two years ago — put Dallas on the power play for four minutes by taking a high stick from defenseman Haydn Fleury. And it took nearly the entire allotted time (3:57 to be precise) before Heiskanen fed a perfect pass from the point to Granlund on the right side. He whipped a shot past Hellebuyck for the goal that gave the Stars a two-goal lead and removed whatever anxiety remained for the night.
Winnipeg was given one last gasp of a chance when Jamie Benn took a roughing penalty with 4:53 to play but the Jets didn’t mount any kind of attack until the very end, and the chants of “Otter’s Better” rang true when he stopped a blast from defenseman Dave Pionk as time on the power play expired. Oettinger finished with 31 saves on 32 shots.
This was the third hat trick in five games for the Stars — all from Finns, of course. Rantanen’s hat trick in Game 7 saved the Colorado series and his hat trick at Winnipeg in Game 1 represents the only road win in this series Dallas may need to finish the job. Granlund followed up Tuesday with the first playoff hat trick of his career. Who knows what lies ahead for Hintz, and, at this rate, you figure Heiskanen and Esa Lindell to sneak into the goal-scoring column.
Dallas is one win from returning to its third straight Western Conference finals, and while much of the roster and attack looks the same, the trade deadline additions of Rantanen and Granlund couldn’t rank any bigger right now as the Stars look stronger than ever.
Hellebuyck, the game’s best goaltender until the games start to really count, certainly couldn’t disagree.