NHL Playoffs 2025: Mikael Granlund paces Stars with hat trick vs. Jets, headlines 3 Stars of the Night

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs certainly hasn’t been short on drama, and that continued to be the case on Tuesday.

In the night’s lone playoff game, the Dallas Stars were able to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 in Game 4 and take a 3-1 series lead in the process. Forward Mikael Granlund registered the first hat trick of his playoff career, while goaltender Jake Oettinger proved to be a brick wall between the pipes.

With another night in the rearview mirror, let’s take a closer look at some of the spectacular performances that resulted from Tuesday’s contest.

The Jets were extremely aggressive offensively throughout Game 4, but ended up not having a ton to show for it on the scoreboard. One of the positives for Winnipeg was the play of star winger Nikolaj Ehlers, who scored the lone goal for his team early in the second period.

The Jets had a power-play that carried over from the first period into the second frame. Just 1:02 into the second period, that man advantage opportunity was just expiring when Ehlers had the puck in his possession to the side of the Dallas net. With not much net to shoot at, Ehlers fired a side-angle shot that he was able to sneak past Oettinger. From an offensive standpoint, it would be hard to find a more productive Jets player than Ehlers. He’s scored three goals in the series and clearly has had a nose for the net. 

2. Jake Oettinger | G | Stars

Oettinger struggled mightily against the Jets throughout the regular season with a 3.25 goals-against-average in four games. However, Oettinger has completely flipped the script in this second-round series and turned aside 31 of the 32 shots that he faced in a Game 4 victory.

Oettinger bailed out the Stars on many occasions throughout Tuesday’s game with spectacular saves. One of the biggest moments of the contest came nearly six minutes into the second period when the Stars coughed up the puck in the neutral zone despite being on the power play. Jets star forward Kyle Connor took the puck in on the breakaway and attempt to go to his backhand. Instead, Oettinger was there to slide across and shut the door on the potential scoring chance. 

Oettinger has been victorious in three of his four starts in the series, while registering a 2.00 goals-against-average and a .929 save percentage. The Stars netminder has also thrived when playing at home as he’s established a 13-2 record in his last 15 home starts. After Connor Hellebuyck stole the show with a shutout earlier in the series, Oettinger has been the more consistent of the two goalies up to this point.

1. Mikael Granlund | C | Stars

The Jets were the better offensive team for a large amount of Game 4, and even had seemed to take control of the momentum. However, Granlund single-handedly was able to push his team toward a victory with a hat-trick performance on Tuesday.

Granlund got his stellar night started when he drew a holding-the-stick penalty on Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo to set up a power play. On the power play, Granlund brought the puck up from the defensive zone, juked his way around Jets forward Parker Ford, and snapped a shot that went under the glove of Hellebuyck. In the second period, Granlund provided the offense yet again as he entered the offensive zone in a two-on-one situation with teammate Roope Hintz, but elected to keep the puck and sent a scorching shot over the glove of Hellebuyck. Finally, Granlund was able to clinch the hat trick on a one-timer that was set up by Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who was playing in his first game since January due to a knee injury.

It was just the second multi-goal game of Granlund’s postseason career after he also accomplished the feat against the Blackhawks in Game 3 of the second-round of the 2014 postseason. Granlund was incredibly active throughout Game 4 as he recorded five hits and even won three face-offs in addition to his three goals. He has really found a home on Dallas’ top line since being acquired by the team prior to the trade deadline this season, and could be a huge asset as the Stars chase their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.