NHL playoffs daily: Jets rally to beat Blues, Avalanche rout Stars

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The first-round playoff series between the Winnipeg Jets and the St. Louis Blues started with a bang and a dramatic finish. The Jets took a 1-0 series lead Saturday after two late third-period goals from Kyle Connor and Adam Lowry.

Winnipeg’s 5-3 victory was on par with The Athletic’s expert predictions, but the Jets had to rally to an early series lead. They’ll seek a similar result when they host Game 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET Monday.

In the second game of the 2025 NHL Playoffs and the first in their series, the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche faced off in Dallas. Colorado goalkeeper Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves in his playoff debut, while Avs center Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals, including an empty-netter, to lift the Avalanche to a 5-1 victory. It marked the Stars’ eighth straight Game 1 loss. Game 2 is at 9:30 p.m. ET Monday in Dallas.

Winnipeg Jets 5, St. Louis Blues 3

Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele can deliver results vs. St. Louis’ star players 

Mark Scheifele got the Jets’ first goal on the power play, thanks to a fortunate bounce off Ryan Suter. There were parts of the second period when Scheifele and Connor ran their two-man offensive game, relying on cutbacks, quick turns, and perimeter play to open up seams — and it almost paid off, with Jordan Binnington going post-to-post to make two tough saves off Connor.

Connor was stopped on two cross-seam passes — one from Scheifele, one on the power play from Cole Perfetti — before breaking through with the winning goal in the third. He was dancing all night, although some of his cutbacks kept him to the outside.

But there is a realistic, believable world in which Connor and Scheifele take over parts of the series the way they did in Game 1. They’re going to need to get to inside ice and execute when they get there — and it took until the third period for them to break through.

Alex Iafallo was the energizer on that line all night, knocking down pucks that helped Winnipeg’s stars go to work. — Murat Ates

Blues’ Robert Thomas keeps streaking and feasting

Blues center Robert Thomas ended the regular season on a 12-game point streak, in which he had 25 points (four goals, 21 assists). He picked up where he left off against the Jets, scoring the first goal of the NHL playoffs, a power-play goal for a 1-0 lead.

“Dominance,” Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. “I think everybody’s seen that he’s taken it to a different level. He’s been putting his name in the conversation of superstar status in this league. Personally, I feel like he’s been in that conversation for three years now, but this year the production is up a little bit since the 4 Nations (Face-Off).

“But I think the No. 1 thing is his defensive game. You’ve got to worry about him putting up 3 or 4 points on you every night, but at the same time, you’re not going to get a lot of looks with him on the ice. Just the way he’s able to control the game from both ends of the ice, almost at ease, is pretty impressive.”

Thomas has feasted on the Jets this season. In four regular-season games, he had three goals and five assists. So with the power-play goal Saturday, he has four goals and 9 points in five games against them. At the time of his goal in Game 1, he had four goals on just 10 shots. — Jeremy Rutherford

Colorado Avalanche 5, Dallas Stars 1

Avalanche power play makes Stars pay … eventually

Given the Stars’ seven-game losing streak to close out the regular season, and their seven consecutive losses in Game 1s dating back three postseasons, an early two-man disadvantage could have spelled doom. But after Mason Marchment and Wyatt Johnston took tripping penalties 36 seconds apart, Dallas had an inspired 5-on-3 kill against the dangerous Avalanche power play. The initial trio of Ilya Lyubushkin, Sam Steel and Esa Lindell frustrated the Avs with quick sticks, and Lindell finally got a clear — wheeling around his own net and banking a shot off his own end boards — a minute into the kill.

Lindell, who has shouldered much of the defensive burden that Miro Heiskanen would typically take, was out for the first 90 seconds of the kill. It was a virtuoso kill and sent the home crowd into delirium.

But you can only give Colorado so many bites at the apple, and a double-minor to Roope Hintz for high-sticking MacKinnon late in the second period cost Dallas dearly. The officials seemed to miss the infraction, but conferred on it, called it, and confirmed it with a review. MacKinnon made the Stars pay, knuckling in a puck off Lyubushkin for a backbreaker of a goal, sending the Avs into the second intermission with a 2-0 lead.

Dallas got in on the special-teams fun in the third period, when Blackwood lost his stick and couldn’t corral Hintz’s redirect of a Thomas Harley shot from up top. The power play started pretty awful for the Stars, but Pete DeBoer called timeout halfway through to keep his top unit on the ice and give his big names a second chance. — Mark Lazerus

Waiting on Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen has a reputation for being a big-time playoff performer and has the numbers to back it up, with 101 points in 82 career playoff games. He was a monster for the Avalanche during their run to the Stanley Cup in 2022, with five goals and 20 assists in 20 games.

“I try to play a 200-foot game, play an all-around game,” Rantanen said when asked why he’s had such playoff success. “You play power play, and play a lot of minutes, so you have a responsibility to be on the scoresheet. You’ve got to defend well in the playoffs, but top forwards and top defensemen got to bring something offensively as well.”

But after a relatively quiet six-game loss to Dallas last season, he started his Stars postseason career with a rather pedestrian effort. He finished with three shots and was a minus-2, with the Stars badly under water in terms of possession with Rantanen, Johnston and Jamie Benn on the ice at five-on-five.

Rantanen is critical to Dallas’ chances in this series, but his importance is more heightened with Jason Robertson out.

“He’s just a guy that seems to rise when the pressure’s on and always seems to be making those plays,” Johnston said before the game. “It’ll be awesome to have him on our side for this series rather than having to play against him.” — Lazerus

(Photo: Jack Gorman / Getty Images)

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