After a couple days to soak in their stunning-yet-similar comebacks in the first-round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s back to business for the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.
That’s when the Jets are scheduled to host the Stars in Game 1 of their best-of-seven, second-round series.
Winnipeg survived its opening-round matchup against the St. Louis Blues with a dramatic rally in Game 7 on Sunday.
The Jets trailed 3-1 before scoring two goals in the final two minutes of regulation with goalie Connor Hellebuyck pulled for the extra skater, including the tying goal with three seconds left. They won 4-3 late in the second overtime.
“These games are special,” Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “You don’t get these very often. To be able to come back in the third period like we did and battle our (butts) off in overtime, yeah, it’s really special and we did it as a group. So we want to carry that forward.”
A day earlier, the Stars trailed the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 with 12 minutes remaining, but Mikko Rantanen scored two straight goals to tie it against his former team. Wyatt Johnston put Dallas ahead with 3:56 left and Rantanen sealed the 4-2 win to complete the hat trick on an empty-net goal with three seconds remaining.
Looking ahead, much of the attention will be on the injury lists for both teams.
Winnipeg played the final two games against the Blues without top-line center Mark Scheifele, who sustained an undisclosed injury in the first period of Game 5.
Scheifele was second on the Jets in goals (39) and points (87) during the regular season.
The best defenseman on the Jets, Josh Morrissey (upper body), was injured in the first period of Game 7 and did not return.
Scheifele and Morrissey attended Tuesday’s optional practice but wore non-contact jerseys. Another player who was injured in Game 7, defenseman Logan Stanley (undisclosed), also wore a non-contact jersey.
Morrissey and Stanley left the ice before the official start of practice, but Scheifele remained. All three are considered game-time decisions, Jets coach Scott Arniel said.
The Stars will likely get forward Jason Robertson (lower body) back against Winnipeg, but defenseman Miro Heiskanen (knee) will remain out of the lineup.
Robertson and Heiskanen each skated during an optional practice Monday and again on Tuesday in Dallas, but Heiskanen did not participate in any drills with the top three pairings, while Robertson was on a line with Mason Marchment and Johnston.
Both missed the entire first-round series against the Avalanche.
Robertson led Dallas in goals (35) and was second in points (80) during the regular season, while Heiskanen is considered the team’s best defenseman.
“It would be really nice to get our full team together,” said forward Matt Duchene, who led Dallas with 82 points in 82 regular-season games. “At the same time, we’re not counting the hours until we get those guys back. We know we can do it with what we have. We just showed that.”
The Stars also are expected to be without fourth-line wing Colin Blackwell, who sustained an undisclosed injury in Game 7.
Jake Oettinger will continue to start in goal for Dallas. He is 6-4-1 in his career against the Jets with a 2.57 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.
He will be opposed by Hellebuyck, who is 14-10-5 in his career against Dallas with a 2.45 GAA and .922 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
