The Winnipeg Jets dropped their first home game of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night, as the Dallas Stars picked up a 3-2 win to take a 1-0 series lead.
A common phrase is that ‘every series takes on a life of its own,’ and while we saw a stark contrast in play from St. Louis to Dallas, it is hard to imagine the rest of the series looking like Game 1.
Physicality dialled way down in Game 1
In the first period of Round 1, Game 1, St. Louis had 32 hits on the Jets. In the entirety of Game 1, Dallas had 24 hits.
“I mean it’s definitely less physical, as of right now,” Nino Niederreiter said.
It was fascinating to see this game unfold the way that it did, watching players turn away from laying hits on their opponent. In Round 1, that simply did not happen.
“That did not feel like a playoff game, Game 1 in Round 2. That felt like Game 45 in the middle of December,” is how Scott Arniel described this one.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
I don’t doubt that the series will pick up in intensity going forward. These are two teams coming off of emotional highs, overcoming two-goal deficits in dramatic fashion in Game 7, and getting right back at it in this series.
“Obviously, we know the high that we’re on coming off that St. Louis game, but man, this is the playoffs,” Arniel said. “That’s a game that no matter how you start the game or however you get into the game it’s one of those ones that there’s a way we have to play as a group and that’s not how we played tonight.”
The start is something Winnipeg struggled with in Round 1, and it carried over into this series. Dallas jumped out to a 9-0 shot advantage, in which Connor Hellebuyck stopped all nine, before rattling off a 9-0 run in shots of their own.
Nino Niederreiter was asked about the potential of having their start caused by the emotional high in Game 7: “Yeah, I mean, it was very emotional. But at the same time, it was very emotional for Dallas as well. It always feels great moving on, but we’re on to a different series and we’ve got to do it all over again.”
As this series takes on its style, it will be interesting to see how physical these teams are on Friday in Game 2, and whether or not the Jets can put together a better start in period one.
Stars’ Mikko Rantanen takes the game over
Mikko Rantanen scored a natural hat trick in the second period, scoring three unanswered goals for Dallas, taking a 1-0 deficit and making it a 3-1 lead at the time.
It’s his second straight game with a hat trick, as he sent the Colorado Avalanche home in Game 7 with a hat trick in the third period.
Per Adam Vingan on Twitter, Rantanen has factored in on each of his team’s last 12 goals, which is the longest streak in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. He passed Mario Lemieux, who in 1992 factored in on nine straight goals for his team.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
He’s also the first player in almost 40 years and third all-time (Jari Kurri, 1985, and Doug Bentley, 1944) to have a hat trick in consecutive playoff games.
Scott Arniel wants his group to keep a better eye on 96 in white going forward: “Whenever you face elite players, you have to know where they are. Obviously, he’s feeling it coming off of Game 7. We’ve got to know when he’s on the ice. He’s a guy that you have to make sure especially you tie up that stick of his.”
I outlined shutting down Rantanen as a key to this series for the Jets, and safe to say in Game 1, they failed to deliver.
Jets’ power play goes 0-for-4
With Mark Scheifele returning to the lineup, Winnipeg had their four top unit power play forwards playing together for the first time since March 23 against the Buffalo Sabres.
While the power play generated some quality looks in their first opportunity, they let the Jets down in this one, failing to score on four opportunities.
The NHL’s best power play during the regular season failing to come through in a playoff game on home ice added to the disappointment of this loss. From my eyes, this was a winnable game for the Jets, and their power play and some key mistakes throughout the game let them down.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Dallas’ power play came into this game clicking along at 30.4% in the playoffs, and went 1-for-2 on the night.
The Jets will have to fight fire with fire in this regard, and their top-ranked power play unit during the regular season will look to connect at an important time beginning in Game 2.
Scott Arniel shared his disappointment with the loss after the game.
“I’m disappointed,” Arniel said. “And the players are disappointed too. We know we just gave up home ice advantage. And that wasn’t a game where they rolled over top of us for three periods. That was a game where we weren’t at our best, and we should have been here, especially at the start of another series at home.”
Up next: Game 2
Having given up home-ice advantage and not playing up to the standard that Scott Arniel enjoys, Game 2 will be fascinating from a Winnipeg Jets perspective.
That contest begins at 8:30 PM CT, with the Illegal Curve pregame show and Illegal Curve postgame show bookending the on-ice action.
