DALLAS -- The Winnipeg Jets will try to break through on the road in a bid to even the Western Conference Second Round in Game 4 against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
The Jets are 0-4 away from home in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs -- and have lost eight straight road playoff games dating to 2023 -- following a 5-2 loss in Game 3 at Dallas on Sunday. They trail the best-of-7 series 2-1.
“I think that obviously we know that on the road we have to be better,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We’ve got to win in this building.”
The Jets went 26-15-0 away from home during the regular season, leading the NHL in road wins and the Western Conference in road points percentage (.634). That helped them win the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season team.
“A great coach once told me -- and I’ve told our group this -- is that there isn’t a home or a road way to play,” Arniel said. “There’s only the right way. We have a certain style that we’re accustomed to playing and how we play, and we’ve been doing it all year long. This is Game 93 coming up. We’ve got to get back to being that road team that we were for the 82 games and being better.”
Teams with a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series have won the series 90.9 percent of the time (320-32).
Here is a breakdown of Game 4:
Jets: Winnipeg has been outscored 22-7 on the road in the playoffs. Goalie Connor Hellebuyck is 0-4 with a 6.65 goals-against average and .772 save percentage in four road games this postseason after going 20-9-0 with a 2.43 GAA, .911 save percentage and two shutouts on the road during the regular season. Forwards Nikolaj Ehlers, Alex Iafallo, Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele are among those with no points on the road in the playoffs. The Jets are 1-for-13 on the power play in this series (7.7 percent) after leading the NHL on the power play during the regular season (28.9 percent).
Stars: Miro Heiskanen, Dallas’ No. 1 defenseman, was activated from long-term injured reserve and is expected to return from a knee injury after being out since Jan. 28. The Stars could dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen, and that could give more ice time to forward Mikko Rantanen, who leads all playoff scorers with 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 10 games, including 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in his past six games. He has had at least three points in five of his past six games.
Number to know: 95. That’s how many wins following a loss Hellebuyck has had in the regular season and playoffs dating to 2019-20. Only Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning has had more (104).
What to look for: Can the Jets contain Rantanen? How will Heiskanen look in his first game in 3 1/2 months?
What they are saying
“Obviously, Dallas is a very good penalty killing team, but we need to continue to make adjustments, continue to be sharper and try to be a difference-maker beyond just momentum but actually putting up results. A lot of confidence in our plan and the guys on the ice on both units. Just got to stick with it and find another level of execution.” -- Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey on the power play
“I could shoot it at him, at his head, and he would grab it and still break it out, so he makes my life a lot easier. He does so many good things and so many little things that people don’t realize. He’s our best player, so when you can get your best player back, it’s huge.” -- Stars goalie Jake Oettinger on the return of Heiskanen
