Mikael Granlund’s hat-trick was enough to put the Winnipeg Jets away as the Dallas Stars took game four 3-1 and added to their series lead, pushing the Jets to the brink of elimination as the series heads back to Winnipeg on Thursday night.
Game Story
The Jets started out flying in the first period, and just as they started gaining momentum, a holding penalty to Dylan DeMelo put the Stars on the power play.
After choosing not to be aggressive on the 3-on-3 play, Neal Pionk was skating back as Mikael Granlund loaded up the puck on his stick and sent a nice snap shot low by Connor Hellebuyck.
The Jets took some time to regain their composure, but they’d get their chance to tie the game as Tyler Seguin was called for holding with 60 seconds left to play in the first period.
The period ended with the Jets having 60 more seconds of power-play time to open the second period, but the Stars had a one-goal lead over the Jets.
The Jets wouldn’t waste time in the second period as they pushed early on, but fell two seconds short of a power play goal as Nikolaj Ehlers snapped a shot that beat Jake Oettinger through his five-hole.
The Jets continued to push, and even had another power play chance to score and take the lead, but nothing ultimately came about, and the game remained tied till near the end of the second period.
Granlund, with Mikko Rantanen, would get on a 2-on-1 rush, leading to Granlund’s second goal of the game, which he beat the high glove side of Hellebucyk
The second period ended 2-1, and the Jets now had their backs against the wall with their season on the line.
Just as it started in the first period, Granlund scored on the power play to get his hat-trick goal on a nice sharp-angle one-timer with three seconds left in the double-minor high-sticking penalty to Haydn Fleury.
Even with a power play chance at hand, the Jets would continue their road woes as the Stars completed the shutdown of Winnipeg to take the game 3-1 and take a 3-1 series lead.
What’s Next?
The Winnipeg Jets head back to Canada Life Centre to face the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. Puck drop is set for 8:30 pm CST in the potential elimination game.
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