Red-hot Mikko Rantanen records 2nd hat trick in a row, as Stars beat Jets in Game 1

Judy Owen · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 08, 2025 1:14 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Mikko Rantanen scored a earthy chapeau instrumentality successful the 2nd play and the Dallas Stars took a 3-2 triumph implicit the Winnipeg Jets successful Game 1 of their second-round NHL playoff series connected Wednesday

Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots for Dallas, which is facing Winnipeg successful the post-season for the archetypal time.

Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, who snapped a four-game location triumph streak astatine Canada Life Centre. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves.

Scheifele returned to enactment aft suffering an upper-body wounded successful Game 5 of Winnipeg's opening-round bid against the St. Louis Blues.

The Stars welcomed backmost winger Jason Robertson, who injured his genu successful the team's last crippled of the regular play and missed Dallas's full seven-game first-round matchup with the Colorado Avalanche.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven bid goes Friday successful Winnipeg.

The Jets earned home-ice vantage done the playoffs aft finishing the regular play with a league-best 116 points. Dallas was 2nd successful the Central Division and 3rd successful the Western Conference with 106 points.

Winnipeg won 3 of 4 games against the Stars during the regular season, including a 4-0 shutout connected April 10 erstwhile the clubs were vying for apical spot successful the division.

The Jets didn't get their archetypal changeable connected extremity until conscionable implicit 7 minutes into the archetypal play Wednesday. The Stars had 8 astatine that point.

Winnipeg had the archetypal powerfulness play of the game, wherever Gabriel Vilardi tried to enactment the puck successful astir the post, but Oettinger stretched his skate against the pipe.

Hellebuyck stopped Wyatt Johnson connected a breakaway successful the past infinitesimal of an opening play that saw the Jets outshoot the visitors 13-12 and outhit them 14-10.

Niederreiter got the sold retired assemblage cheering erstwhile his sharp-angled backhand bushed Oettinger astatine the 3:30 people of the 2nd period. He became the NHL's archetypal Swiss-born subordinate to skate successful 100 vocation post-season contests.

Rantanen tied it up astatine 8:43 with his sixth extremity of the playoffs erstwhile helium poked the puck successful aft a rebound.

His 2nd extremity was a extremity of Thomas Harley's constituent changeable astatine 14:21, and helium made it 3-1 connected the powerfulness play 2 minutes aboriginal erstwhile his changeable went successful disconnected Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg.

Rantanen, who besides scored a third-period chapeau instrumentality successful the Stars' Game 7 triumph implicit Colorado successful the archetypal round, is the 3rd subordinate successful NHL past — and the archetypal successful astir 40 years — with chapeau tricks successful consecutive playoff games.

Edmonton's Jari Kurri accomplished the feat successful Games 5 and 6 of the 1985 Campbell Conference final, and Chicago's Doug Bentley did the aforesaid successful Game 4 and 5 of the 1944 Stanley Cup final.

Rantanen extended his constituent streak to 4 games with 8 goals and six assists crossed the stretch. He has 15 points this post-season.

The Finnish sniper's 3rd tally of the nighttime didn't clasp Winnipeg backmost for long.

Scheifele chopped his team's shortage to a azygous extremity 57 seconds aboriginal with his 3rd extremity of the playoffs.

Winnipeg got its 4th powerfulness play of the crippled aboriginal successful the 3rd and came up bare again.

Hellebuyck was pulled with conscionable nether 2 minutes connected the crippled clock. Oettinger was swarmed, but inactive stopped Scheifele from successful tight.

The Jets relied connected precocious heroics successful their Game 7 triumph implicit the Blues, wherever Cole Perfetti levelled the people astatine 3-3 with 3 seconds to spell successful regulation. Captain Adam Lowry past scored successful treble overtime to nonstop Winnipeg to the 2nd circular of the playoffs for the archetypal clip since 2021.