The Mikael Granlund Game Propels the Stars to Victory

The Dallas Stars had a chance to put a stranglehold on their round 2 series against the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday night. This came along with some extra help on the blue line. Before morning skate Tuesday morning, Head Coach Pete DeBoer said that Miro Heiskanen was skating, and would be activated off of LTIR barring any set backs for a game 4 start.

Stars fans got just that with Miro Heiskanen on a pairing with Thomas Harley in the starting lineup with a massive pop from the crowd. It was electric and everything I thought it would have been. However the Mikael Granlund game propels the Stars to victory.

The Stars have been pretty stellar without a top five defenseman in the world helping them out for a series and a half, but every Stars fan in the world knows that adding him back to the lineup means a significant amount.

First period Thoughts

I’ve reiterated time and time again on our Stars podcast, Clean Sheet of Ice, that a good start is imperative for the Stars to create momentum instead of playing from behind.

I thought the first eight minutes were fine from both sides. Both goalies had a couple of high danger chances that they dealt with ease, but for the most part it was a good start for Dallas.

With just under 12 minutes left in the first period, Mikael Granlund’s stick was held by a Jets defender and the Stars went on the power play for the first time in the game.

Granny didn’t stop there as he gathered the puck from a clear at the first blue line, easily juked out a Jets defender, and entered the offensive zone. For the first time all series I think I saw road playoff Connor Hellebuyck.

There were three Jets defenders making sure pressure didn’t get to deep, and after a few strides into the zone, Granny threw a nasty snapshot towards Hellebuyck. You know what happened next.

I mentioned when Granny and Cody Ceci got traded to the Stars in February that it was a big deal to not just get an extra defender but to get Granny as well. He’s an exceptionally versatile player while playing center, right wing, left wing, power play, penalty kill. The guy just does it all, and he gave the Stars the early lead in game four.

The rest of the period wasn’t a snooze fest, but the Jets created a bunch of pressure and got several screened shots on Jake Oettinger. It didn’t matter for the best goalie in America as he made most saves with ease, and kept the lead for the Stars headed into first intermission.

Second Period Thoughts

Since Tyler Seguin took a late holding call in the first period the Jets started on the power play. Just as the penalty expired, Nikolaj Ehlers sniped one in short side on Oettinger and the game was even just over a minute into the second period.

The Stars were outshot heavily after Granny’s first goal, and that trend continued into the second period. The Jets had all the juice, and all the offensive zone time.

It was gross hockey where the Stars were playing on their heels instead of capitalizing on the early lead and their strong penalty kill. Nevertheless, the period went on without any more scoring until…yep, you guessed it, another Mikael Granlund goal to the same spot he scored his first of the game.

I noticed before game three that Hellebuyck missed every single shot to his blocker side in line rushes pregame. However, both of the Granny goals were glove side. Hockey is weird sometimes. Granny’s second goal was absolutely disgusting. 2-on-1 rush and he no-looked the shot to the top right corner of the goal. GROSSSSSSS.

The second Granny goal gave the Stars the lead back 2-1 with just over two minutes left and Jason Robertson had a reeeeeaaaal good chance to make it 3-1. For how the Stars were playing in the second period, it was a blessing to be up heading into the second intermission.

Third Period Thoughts

The Stars have been phenomenal in the third period throughout this series against the Jets. They always seem to find the timely goal, defensive play, or massive same from Otter. Tuesday night was no different.

Just over three minutes had passed and the Jets ended up getting called for a four minute double minor high sticking penalty. The power play for the Stars has been converting at a much higher clip than their regular season stats, and I expected that to continue with four minutes of man advantage.

As the end of the second portion of the four minute penalty was coming to a close, Miro Heiskanen shoveled the puck over to none other than Mikael Granlund. Granny one timed the puck and went down to his knees as his third goal of the game reached the net.

Granny’s hat trick Tuesday night was the third hatty of the playoffs for the Stars joining the other two hattys from Mikko Rantanen. Three hat tricks is the most they’ve had in a singular playoff run, tying the bubble 2020 Cup run. It was also the 13th playoff hat trick in Stars franchise history.

We knew Mikko Rantanen wasn’t going to be able to score every single goal for the Stars during these playoffs, but it seems like one player a night could be enough to continue to win games.

The Stars got a huge boost from Miro Heiskanen early in the game, but it was Mikael Granlund and Jake Oettinger’s nights to shine on home ice. Dallas is just one win away from a third consecutive appearance to the Western Conference Finals. It’s time to play that song.

The Mikael Granlund Game Propels the Stars to Victory as Miro Heiskanen returns and Jake Oettinger stood on his head.