3 Takeaways From Stars’ 5-2 Win Over Jets

A little less than four minutes into the final period, Alexander Petrovic scored his first goal in the playoffs in almost a decade, and in controversial fashion, to say the least. Hellebuyck kicked a rebound from a Rantanen shot right to Petrovic at the left side of the net. The puck then hit off of Petrovic’s skate towards the net, and the deflected off of Hellebuyck’s stick and into the net as the Winnipeg netminder was trying to bat it away from danger. Upon further review, it looked like Petrovic kicked the puck towards the net, and the NHL decided it needed even further review. “Further review” turned into about seven minutes, which is as long as a review as I can remember, although my memory isn’t great, so that doesn’t say much.

It turns out that it was a good goal, and that kickstarted a three-goal third period for the Stars. Rantanen scored less than a minute later, and Wyatt Johnston made it 5-2 a little less than 10 minutes after that. This is something we have now seen in three of the last four games for the Stars. One break goes their way, and all hell breaks loose for the opponent.

Rantanen Does it Again…

I have to admit, at this point, it feels sort of cheap mentioning Rantanen. While watching these games unfold, especially when the Stars win, it feels like I have one of my three takeaways already in the bag. However, this has to be talked about, and Stars’ fans hope we don’t stop talking about it anytime soon.

Rantanen now has 17 points in his last six games, and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon. Ok, maybe it looked like he might slow down after the Stars were shut out in Game 2, but very quickly, Rantanen had an assist on Hintz’s opening goal on Sunday, and just like that, he was back in business.

His goal in the third period was his ninth of the postseason, which is incredible in and of itself. When Rantanen won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, he had five goals and 25 points in 20 games. That’s a pretty good clip. So nine goals and 18 points in 10 games is, in fact, incredible, wouldn’t you agree? Of course, you would, since it’s one of the biggest stories of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and rightfully so.

With that being said, all of his success was slightly concerning heading into Game 3. Before Sunday, Rantanen had scored six of the last seven goals for the Stars, and seven of the last 11. Obviously, that’s amazing, but literally no one else was scoring. He may be dominating games, but that can’t go on forever. Eventually, someone else had to score, and on Sunday, four other guys put the puck in the net. Sure, Rantanen still had two assists, but hey, they have to start somewhere.

Oettinger Is Winning the Goaltending Battle in Round 2

Before Game 2, I wrote an article about why Oettinger is the best goaltender in this series, strictly when it comes to the playoffs, and in the article, there are a lot of numbers and facts to back up that statement. Of course, Hellebuyck posted a shutout in Game 2, which may have made me look a little silly, but Oettinger came to my rescue in Game 3, putting up yet another terrific performance.

Jets’ fans have been raining down “US Backup” chants on Oettinger in Round 2 and the regular season. On Sunday, Stars’ fans responded by chanting “Oetter’s Better”, which must have really made the Dallas netminder smile. 25 years ago, the same fans, at least the older ones, chanted “Eddie’s Better,” referring to Eddie Belfour being better than Patrick Roy in the 2000 Western Conference Final. Pretty cool company to be in.

Oettinger’s numbers on Sunday don’t jump off the page. 23 saves on 25 shots is really good, but it’s not like he faced 50. Still, this goaltender keeps on giving his team a chance to win each and every night. They don’t always respond, but on this afternoon, they did. If they continue to play like that in front of him, the Stars will be on their way to the conference final for the third straight year, and who knows, maybe beyond.