The Dallas Stars have a 3-1 series lead and have controlled the Round 2 matchup for the most part. Aside from the 4-0 shutout win in Game 2 from the Winnipeg Jets, it’s been all Stars, and they’ve notably taken over on their home ice with back-to-back wins by multiple goals.
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It’s easy to look at this series as Jake Oettinger out-duelling Connor Hellebuyck. Both goaltenders are elite, and Oettinger is stepping up and leading his team to a series victory with a .929 save percentage (SV%) while Hellebuyck is letting his team down with a .884 SV% and allowing eight goals in the last two starts. These two goaltenders will represent the USA in the 2026 Winter Olympics, and there’s suddenly a good argument for the Stars starter to be the USA starter as well.
This series is more than just the goaltenders. Many will point to Hellebuyck as the scapegoat, yet it’s a complete domination from the Stars. They are proving that when the pressure is on, they can come through in the clutch. The Jets are a great team, one that won the Presidents’ Trophy. However, this series is showing the difference between a good playoff team and one that can win the Cup.
Stars Elite Talent is Delivering
The Jets have a great roster. The question is, who are the core players or the elite talents who are supposed to carry them? The forwards are a combination of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Gabriel Vilardi (it’s worth noting the defense has a few other core players, and Hellebuyck is the player they build around as well).
The four forwards leading the Jets have scored five goals and added five assists. In comparison, Mikko Rantanen is leading the Stars with four goals and three assists but they’ve also gotten contributions from their other elite forwards with Matt Duchene, Roope Hintz, and Wyatt Johnston combining for two goals and four assists.
The playoffs are when the best players must take over games. They are the ones carrying their teams and particularly creating offense at another level, one where even the best defences. The Jets have great forwards but not game changers, and it shows. The Stars have a few of those skaters, and they are making that difference, especially Rantanen, who carried the team in Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche and is leading the way against the Jets as well.
Stars Are Getting Depth Scoring
Rantanen is the headliner of the series and the playoffs, but the Stars are getting offense from more than just Rantanen or even the top-end talent. When the Stars need goals from their third or fourth lines, they are getting them. It speaks to how they are built with minimal issues, and if there is a void in the forward unit, general manager (GM) Jim Nill will address it.
Mikael Granlund’s Game 4 hat trick is a great case in point of that. He was acquired ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline from the San Jose Sharks to add a spark to the middle-six. He has seven goals and 14 assists in 31 games with the Stars, and in the series against the Jets, he has three goals and two assists. At the 2023 Trade Deadline, Nill acquired Max Domi, who ended up scoring three goals while adding 10 assists during the playoff run. This season, the big move was adding Granlund, and while it wasn’t seen as a splash at the time, it’s paying off big time.
The Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues in the first round thanks to their depth scoring. Mason Appleton, Adam Lowry, and Vladislav Namestnikov combined for five goals and eight assists in the seven-game series. Now, the depth is holding them back. While Connor, Scheifele, Ehlers, and Vilardi have five goals in the series, the rest of the team has four, and the trio of Appleton, Lowry, and Namestnikov only has one goal and one assist combined. Game 1 was a one-goal game, and if the Jets would have found some offense from their third or fourth line, they would have swung that game and possibly the series. They didn’t, and it’s why they are one loss away from elimination.
Defense Goes a Long Way
The Jets had a great defensive unit leading them all season. They would shut down opposing offenses and allow Hellebuyck to have many easy nights in the net where he’d start but not be asked to stop a lot of shots. They haven’t done a great job of helping out Hellebuyck in the playoffs. The Blues fired shots on him at will while the Stars are getting plenty of good looks against him, making a Hart Trophy finalist look like a liability.
It also doesn’t help that the defensive unit isn’t helping out in the offensive end ice either. Josh Morrissey has three assists in three games, yet this unit hasn’t gotten that big goal, and the rest of the unit has only five assists combined. The Stars are not only getting great play on the defensive end of the ice but they’ve found that spark in the offensive zone as well.
Thomas Harley has most notably led the way, averaging 25:14 ice time and has a goal and three assists in this series. In the playoffs, it’s hard to find offense, and having a defenseman who can open things up at the point goes a long way. The Stars have those skaters, and it’s showing in this series.
The Jets Ran Into a Great Team That’s Only Getting Better
Heading into the playoffs, it was easy to write off the Stars. They finished the season with a seven-game losing streak and were playing poorly across the board. They lost 5-1 in Game 1 of the first round to the Avalanche, and without a handful of key skaters, an early playoff exit looked like it was in the works. They battled against the Avalanche and won despite Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen’s absences.
Now both skaters are back, and the Stars — who were already playing well — are getting healthy at the right time. They already looked like a Stanley Cup team and added one of their best forwards and arguably a top-five defenseman in the league to the lineup. The Jets don’t have much of a chance against that, and the rest of the teams in the playoffs will also have a tough time beating them.
The Stars are the team to beat in the NHL and have been in recent seasons. They reached the Western Conference Final in back-to-back seasons and are on pace to do it again. Many will look at the Jets and say they are falling apart. It’s only true to a point. They are running into a juggernaut at the wrong time.
