Game 4 Stray Observations (Round Two): Mikael Granlund becomes Mikko Rantanen for the Dallas 3-1 series lead

Another win. Another Finnish star.

At last: the final infinity stone. Perhaps even bigger news that a professional hockey league game starting at a reasonable evening time, fit for responsible adults — was the return of Miro Heiskanen. You know where I’ve always stood with his absence, and its importance; important enough that I didn’t think Dallas could beat Colorado without him (and Jason Robertson).

While Heiskanen’s return was significant, it wasn’t as significant as Mikael Granlund and Jake Oettinger tag-teaming to beat the Jets, who now have a 3-1 series lead. It was a decent game for Dallas, who were outshot heavily once more, but who didn’t give up the high danger chances.

It’s not the kind of win that makes you feel optimistic, per se, going into Winnipeg. But who needs optimism when you have a 3-1 series lead? Isn’t inevitability preferable anyway? That was really the story of Tuesday night. For all of Dallas’ flaws, their flaws aren’t getting in the way. Their strengths, between goaltending and special teams, are giving them that edge, never giving opponents momentum. These are sustainable things, which makes Dallas’ potential trip to their third consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance feel that much closer.

The Jets are by no means done. Their performance was pretty good, even if Connor Hellebuyck’s wasn’t¹. They’ve been excellent at home. But as long as Dallas still has another crack at On the Road Hellebuyck, this series is starting to feel like just a matter of time.

Miro Heiskanen’s return

Finally. Amusingly, the first period was somewhat lukewarm. He stumbled briefly on a puck retrieval, and Winnipeg seemed to be peppering that Heiskanen-Thomas Harley (who looked excellent after the first period) pair through one. It’s silly to expect Heiskanen at 100 percent knowing that he’d probably take a few more games off if it were the regular season (if not weeks?). I doubt anybody does. But hopefully the real test comes in the next series, when Dallas will need him playing 20 plus minutes a night again. For now, he’s being eased into the lineup, and that’s all Dallas needs.

Dallas’ penalty kill shines again

I’ll be talking about Winnipeg’s power play vs. Dallas’ penalty kill in the film room this week (paid), but if you’re a fan of this team, be sure not to take Dallas’ PK for granted. While Colorado played tactically dumb, they were still talented. Dallas shut them down. Winnipeg is tactically smart, and Dallas is shutting them down. It’s been a fantastic adjustment by the Stars, who have gone to playing the Jets more aggressively on their entries, forcing dump-ins to keep Winnipeg moving just to get the puck rather than focusing on disrupting their formation as Plan A, and disrupting entries as Plan B. Kind of feels like the plans have switched. And what a difference.

Mikael or Mikko?

The crow tastes good. While I wasn’t fond of the Granlund trade (more for the assets paid and who else was attached) at the time, who can argue against it at this point? To be fair, I don’t think anyone had Granlund slotted into the left wing spot next to Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen. Once Granlund left the spot next to Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston (two lines hobbled for different reasons), his game took off. However, it’s not just the obvious — that players play better with better linemates. Granlund has bloomed in all areas of the game, not only owning to the additional space his teammates create for him, but owing to the added responsibility he’s taken on for himself as a player that needs to be strong defensively. Thankfully, the offense is there too.

Dallas’ power play

Dallas is officially the top team on the power play. While the focus has deservedly been on the penalty kill, the power play continues to be the Stars’ momentum charger. They’re scoring goals at critical junctures, making opponents pay for their mistakes, and it’s been a big part of why Dallas is into the second round with a 3-1 lead. Not much has changed. Rantanen, tide, all boats, etc.

The Winnipeg perspective

If you’re a Jets fan, I don’t know how you’re not feeling cooked. Connor Hellebuyck can’t win on the road. Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor has been MIA. If you were looking for any shred of hope that the depth might have a chance, then watching Morgan Barron botch a three-on-one with zero pressure surely sunk it. Your only beacons are Nino Niederreiter and Nikolaj Ehlers. Nonetheless, the Jets are a strong home team, and while Hellebuyck hasn’t been playing to the level he’s usually capable of, he also hasn’t been the reason for Winnipeg’s losses (for the most part). You’re down but not out. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, that’s at least something.

1. He was, I think, pretty good. But when the bar is Vezina/Hart levels, “pretty good” is not a sufficient descriptor.