Game 3 Stray Observations (Round Two): Mikko Rantanen, casually with another three-point night, gives Dallas the 2-1 series lead over Winnipeg

It's still the Mikko show.

So far the Stars have shown us who they are without their key players. Through two games, they could no longer make that excuse with only Miro Heiskanen absent. While his presence is still needed, Dallas still has other superstars they can put on ice to carry a game.

After Game 3, I’m not sure that Mikko Rantanen isn’t Thanos himself. Or maybe Winnipeg is Thanos, and Rantanen is Tuco on the stones. Normally I’d reserve player analysis into a stray observation, but this really is the story. Rantanen’s numbers look like numbers borrowed from a different sport. 17 points in his last six games. Two game-winning goals. Two hat tricks. Involved in 15 of Dallas’ last 16 goals. Et cetera. It’s just stupid.

But Rantanen wasn’t the only Star to show up. In fact, while he’ll rightfully dominate the headlines, Dallas played a solid, steady game, until unleashing a barrage in the final period that put Winnipeg down for the count (at least for the night). It was easily one of Dallas’ best performances all postseason. And also a great sign: with Winnipeg’s top line out against the Roope Hintz line, Scheifele and Co. were outshot (attempts) 7-3. Pete DeBoer got his matchups, and the matchups favored Dallas.

The series is by no means over. The Jets are still a team to be feared, even if that fear — especially of Connor Hellebuyck — is waning. Perhaps because Dallas keeps picking up crucial wins without Miro Heiskanen, which makes one wonder just how good this team is with Heiskanen. It won’t make them perfect if he comes back 100 percent at some point. But how beatable are they be if this is how they look without him?

Again, I know I should shut up about this because it’s a tired talking point — I get tired of pointing it out, believe me — but it’s part of what makes me so impressed everytime Dallas puts on such a great performance. Whatever happens next, I think we can safely say that Dallas is a wagon even without all its wheels.

Dallas power play

While Dallas’ penalty kill has been the big story in the playoffs — and for good reason — the Stars’ power play is beginning to shine brightest at Dallas’ most critical hour (until the next most critical hour of course). They haven’t always looked pretty, but they’ve been scoring goals. And they’re getting shots on net. And they’re getting quality shots on net. Which puts them 5th in the league, adjusted for minutes, currently. A Mikko Rantanen certainly helps, but Roope Hintz has had a good postseason thus far, so it was nice to see him rewarded for his efforts.

Thomas Harley

Harley will get a separate article at some point. Perhaps several. But there’s no way to understate his value to Dallas. Yes, it’s about the offense, and that second goal of course. But it’s also about his defense, and transition ability. We saw the real Thomas Harley blossom in the playoffs, two years ago when he more or less made his NHL debut (not officially, obviously). He was a well-rounded player even then — a function of spending his tenure AHL tenure kind of pretending to be a shutdown defender. More than just a well-rounded player, he’s a full-fledged star. On a weaksauce team, hockey nerds would be talking about how great he’d look on a stronger team. Hockey nerds should be talking about how we already have a proof of concept.

Dallas penalty kill

I thought Winnipeg was broadly (and only slightly) better than Dallas in the Winnipeg PP vs. Dallas PK matchup through two games. Through three, it’s dead even, with the pendulum swinging in Dallas’ direction. The Stars have the most trouble when the Jets are in formation, and are able to work the puck down low. That leaves Dallas with Plan B: attack them before they get into the zone. Obviously, it’s easier said than done, but that was the story for me, watching Dallas’ penalty kill crush hockey’s top power play unit.

Kicking motion

Nothing makes me roll my eyes more than a controversial goal that takes half a period to figure out. If you want to get technical, I’m not sure the rulebook was consistent with the refs’ determination.

I also just don’t care. The officials took the entirety of ‘Free Bird’ to figure out what they missed. Why? Either you’re a serious league focused on getting things right at all times, or you’re the NHL and you’re never sure, in which case, you never know when you’re watching a game and can put on Spotify for nine minutes without missing any game action…in the middle of the game. Personally, I think goals should count no matter how they’re scored (yes, I was in favor of Lehkonen’s rolling thunder goal counting). Yes, barring a full-fledged Nolan Ryan, eliminating Andrew Shaw’s headbutt goal from the history books just makes your league look lame, and like it actively doesn’t want to have fun.

The Winnipeg perspective

Hellebuyck looked okay when he was making saves, but awkward when he was moving around to make saves. I’m not sure how to square that, but either that’s an acceptable sign for Winnipeg fans or not. Currently his bar has been set at “at least he didn’t get pulled for a playoff road game".” Regardless, the Jets really lost the matchups tonight.

That makes you wonder what Scott Arniel has planned for his lines next game. They’re one of the few teams who still has something of a checking line. Either that’s gonna factor into the series outcome, or it’ll something of the anachronism that it is for most teams.