Jets stand tall

It turns out the Winnipeg Jets weren’t ready for this ride to be over.

Thanks to a near-perfect defensive effort and an offensive awakening, the Jets were able to play their template game and stave off elimination with a 4-0 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night before a Whiteout crowd of 15,225 at Canada Life Centre.

The Jets are now 2-0 in elimination games, while the Stars are 1-1 when trying to eliminate an opponent.

“No, I don’t think there is one rallying cry. It is just the messaging to come to find the belief in one another. We don’t want our season to be done,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “We believe in this group and know what this group is going to accomplish and just get the next one. We live to fight another day. We are thrilled with the result and we now go back to Dallas. Rest, recover, get ready and there’s another big one in front of us.”

This was the epitome of a template game for the Jets at a time when precision was required.

The Jets didn’t give up any easy ice, limited the scoring chances against and goalie Connor Hellebuyck took care of the rest, making 22 saves to record his second shutout of the series.

Hellebuyck was quick to shower praise on the group in front of him.

“We had everyone. Everyone was doing the same things,” said Hellebuyck, who is up to five career playoff shutouts. “Everyone was chipping in, and we got complete buy in. I mean, we always have complete buy in from everyone, but everyone brought it.”

Hellebuyck’s road woes have been well documented, but he’s posted consecutive shutouts on home ice, something he will be looking to build on in Game 6 on Saturday at American Airlines Center.

“Even times when we weren’t helping him out, he’s still looked great,” said Jets left-winger Kyle Connor, who chipped in with a pair of assists. “His confidence never wavers. He’s the type of guy that comes to the rink every day with a smile on his face and gives us his best.

“His game throughout the whole first round, second round, the way he’s approached it, he’s been the same. We’ve been better in front of him and helped him out in a lot of ways. And he’s been awesome when he needs to be.”

In order to force this series to go the distance, the Jets will need to snap a nine-game road losing streak.

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired in Game 5:

POWERFUL STUFF: The Jets’ inability to get much going with the man-advantage had been a big storyline through four games, but Nikolaj Ehlers supplied a goal 30 seconds into a two-man advantage (at 2:20 of the third period) and Vladislav Namestnikov added another at 12:07 of the final frame for a valuable insurance marker.

After going one-for-16 through the first four games of the series, this was a massive breakthrough for the Jets power play – which was the top-ranked unit in the NHL during the regular season.

“That power play in the second when they had a lot of chances and didn’t connect, but they built on the momentum and energy in the building. Even them just coming back to the bench with the confidence that they were moving pucks, they were creating,” said Lowry. “Then, looking to the third (period), them getting one to kind of ice the game, that was huge. “

For Ehlers, it was his fourth goal of this series and he added his fifth into an empty net with 45 seconds to go.

A lack of postseason production during his Jets’ tenure was something Ehlers was looking to put in the rearview mirror and he’s taken some important steps to doing so.

After putting up four goals and 14 points in 37 postseason contests to start his career, Ehlers is up to five goals and eight points in seven games in the 2025 playoffs.

For Namestnikov, it was his first goal of the series and third of the postseason. This one came on a perfect shot after a fantastic pass from Alex Iafallo – who had gone 11 games without recording a point since scoring in the opening game of the first-round series with the St. Louis Blues.

THE BOUNCE: With the teams playing four-on-four early in the second period, the Jets got a fortuitous bounce — two actually — to open the scoring.

Seconds after Hellebuyck used a pokecheck to erase a dangerous scoring chance for Stars centre Wyatt Johnston, the Jets got on the attack and Kyle Connor found Mark Scheifele as the trailer.

Scheifele showed poise and patience and after taking his shot, it caromed off the stick of Johnston and then bounced in off Stars defenceman Thomas Harley.

For Scheifele, it was his fourth goal of the playoffs but his first since Game 1 of the series.

Scheifele was on the receiving end of a punch to the face from Stars captain Jamie Benn at 13:28 of the third period.

Scheifele was knocked to the ice by the blow and wasn’t happy with what transpired.

Jets forward Brandon Tanev came to the aid of Scheifele before the punch was delivered and got a roughing minor and 10-minute misconduct.

Benn got a roughing minor and 10-minute misconduct, though somehow Scheifele was assessed a roughing penalty, leaving the Jets shorthanded.

“I wasn’t really happy with how that…” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “I mean, we’re the ones who are up in the game, I didn’t think we should have come out of that pileup having the extra minor.”

The Jets managed to kill off that minor in what was an inspired performance from a penalty kill that finished the game a perfect four-for-four.

THE (CORRECT) WAVE OFF: The Jets had some outstanding puck movement during a power play late in the second period, one that included a puck going into the net behind Oettinger.

However, the rebound was punched in by the right hand of Scheifele, so the potential goal was correctly disallowed with 52.6 seconds to go in the period.

After the whistle was blown and the call explained by the referee, Jets fans broke into a “should have kicked it” chant – referencing the controversial goal scored by Stars defenceman Alex Petrovic.

Points for creativity for that one.

THE KEY PLAY: Nikolaj Ehlers drove to the net and stuffed the puck in 30 seconds into a two-man advantage to make it 2-0, providing some valuable breathing room.

THE THREE STARS

1. Connor Hellebuyck, Jets, Made 22 saves for his second shutout of the series.
2. Nikolaj Ehlers, Jets, Scored a pair of goals, had five shots on goal.
3. Neal Pionk, Jets, Chipped in a pair of assists, had six hits, two blocked shots and was excellent defensively.

CHOOSING CONTINUITY: With their season on the line, Arniel chose to reunite the three lines that were used most during the course of the campaign.

After mixing things up on the road to adjust to the matchup game, Arniel reunited his top line and put the identity trio of Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton back together to try and combat Stars winger Mikko Rantanen.

“Obviously, those guys have played together for most of the year,” said Arniel. “Having (familiar) lines, that certainly helps.”

The plan worked out well, as the Lowry line kept Rantanen, Roope Hintz and Mikael Granlund (who scored a hat trick in Game 4) off the scoreboard.

Scheifele’s line saw a lot of time against Matt Duchene’s line and was able to generate numerous dangerous scoring chances.

EXTRA, EXTRA: Jets forward Cole Perfetti chipped in an assist on Ehler’s empty-netter to give him his first point of this series.

The Jets outhit the Stars 49-32, with Niederreiter, Tanev and Perfetti tying Pionk for the team lead with six. Jets D-man Luke Schenn added five hits and supplied another steady game on the back end.

Both teams went with the same lineup, which meant the Stars used 11 forwards and seven D-men, which allows some additional ice time for Rantanen and allows blue-liner Miro Heiskanen to be eased back into things. Heiskanen, playing just his second game since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 28, was skating very well and ended up with 18:33 of ice time, chipping in four shots on goal and two hits.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld