The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features eight teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Monday. Today, NHL.com previews the Western Conference Second Round between the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars.
(1C) Winnipeg Jets vs. (2C) Dallas Stars
Jets: 56-22-4, 116 points
Stars: 50-26-6, 106 points
Season series: WPG 3-1-0; DAL: 1-3-0
Game 1: Wednesday at Winnipeg (9:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN)
The Jets and Stars will face off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in the Western Conference Second Round.
Each went seven games in their respective first-round series to get to this point, and both did it with comeback wins in the finale. The Stars rallied from down 2-0 in the third period to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in Dallas on Saturday.
"It's up there for sure, just the way we did it," forward Wyatt Johnston said of how much of a feel-good win it was. "There probably wasn't a whole lot of belief that we were going to get it done with 15 minutes left in the third. Just awesome the way we battled back, especially in front of the home crowd. It was amazing. It's up there for sure. Hopefully there are a lot of pretty special games and special wins coming up in the next little while."
The Jets came back from trailing 2-0 and 3-1 to win 4-3 in double overtime against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
"It's hard to put into words," captain Adam Lowry said. "Our mantra from training camp (was) get better every day, focus on the process and the results will take care of themselves, and I'm just really proud of the guys.
"You get down 2-0, Game 7, it kind of feels like it's an insurmountable lead 3-1 late, but to score two with the goalie out and to just have life. And for 'Fetts' (Cole Perfetti) to bring the building to its feet (to tie the game) with (2.2) seconds left is incredible. So, a wild game, but that's our group. There's not a lot of quit in here."
Both teams are also dealing with injuries. Jets center Mark Scheifele (undisclosed) has been out since the first period of Game 5 and defenseman Josh Morrissey (undisclosed) did not come back after leaving in the first period of Game 7. Scheifele skated on his own in a track suit Saturday but did not Sunday. Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel didn't have an update on Morrissey after Game 7.
The Stars were without forward Jason Robertson (lower body) and defenseman Miro Heiskanen (knee) in the first round. Robertson participated in line rushes with Mason Marchment and Johnston at practice Tuesday, when coach Pete DeBoer said he's close to a return and his status for Game 1 will depend on how he feels Wednesday morning. Heiskanen did not skate with the top six on defense and remains day to day.
Game breakers
Jets: Kyle Connor pretty much picked up where he left off in the regular season. After leading the Jets with 97 points (41 goals, 56 assists) in 82 regular-season games, he's first with 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in the playoffs. Two of his goals were game-winners and it seemed that if there was a big scoring play, Connor was somehow involved.
Stars: Mikko Rantanen couldn't have made a bigger statement than he did in Game 7 of the first round against his former team. The forward, who the Stars acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7, had 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in seven games, including a hat trick in Game 7. The Stars have a few good offensive weapons, but it starts with Rantanen.
