‘This is the playoffs’: Winnipeg Jets disappointed after Game 1 loss to Dallas Stars

Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series.

WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets reflected the play of assistant captain Mark Scheifele on Wednesday.

After missing two games with an upper-body injury, Scheifele returned to action for Game 1 of Winnipeg’s second-round series against the Dallas Stars.

The marquee centre scored as his Jets fell 3-2 to the Stars, but said getting back up to speed took time.

“I probably didn’t find my stride until the second, probably later in the second, the third period,” Scheifele said. “Then, I started feeling better. So, you’re moving on to the next one, be better for the next one.”

His teammates took just as long to find their stride.

Dallas outshot Winnipeg 9-0 in the opening seven minutes of the game, and took a 3-1 lead midway through the second period.

“It obviously wasn’t a great start, so obviously there are some things that we can do better,” Schiefele said. ”We didn’t play great and we were right in it, so there’s a positive you can take out of it. From there, we can move on to the next one.”

Nino Niederreiter also scored, getting the Jets on the board at the 3:30 mark of the second.

Mikko Rantanen replied with three straight goals for the Stars.

Dallas had a great start on Wednesday, Niederreiter said, and that’s something Winnipeg needs to improve.

“Our start was, once again, not very good. It’s something we know we’ve got to do better,” said the Swiss winger, noting the matchup with the Stars will be “completely different” than the first-round battle his team fought against the St. Louis Blues.

“(The Stars) are obviously a very experienced team. They know how to be in a tight game, they are extremely patient. That is something we’ve got to learn from.”

Falling behind has become the norm for the Jets this post-season. The team has surrendered the first goal in five of its eight playoff games this year, and needed a dramatic comeback to beat the Blues in Game 7.

“We need to be sharper, we need to be better,” Niederreiter said. “We just need to be better on details. As cliché as it sounds, our overall game wasn’t good enough.”

Jets coach Scott Arniel agreed that details were an issue on Wednesday.

“There was a lot of sloppiness to that game,” he said. “That did not feel like a playoff game, Game 1 in round two. That felt like game 45 in the middle of December.

“Obviously we know the high that we’re on coming off that St. Louis game, but man, this is the playoffs. 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.”

Losing Game 1 in front of a sold-out home crowd is disappointing, the coach said.

“We know we just gave up home-ice advantage,” he said. “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.”

Winnipeg will host the Stars in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2025.

Jim Bender, The Canadian Press