Jets fall to Stars 5-2 as road woes continue in Game 3

DALLAS — The anger was palpable both inside and outside the Winnipeg Jets dressing room early Sunday evening. To put it bluntly, they felt like they got jobbed.

At issue was the controversial game-winner by the Dallas Stars, one the referees and the league spent nearly 10 puzzling, painstaking minutes reviewing before ultimately allowing. It broke a tie early in the third period and paved the way for what became a 5-2 victory by the home team and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.

“That is no goal,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel said as he met the media inside American Airlines Center.

There’s no question Stars defenceman Alexander Petrovic kicked the puck with his left skate towards the Winnipeg net, setting in motion a chain of events which will be talked about for some time. Replays show it struck the blade of Connor Hellebuyck’s stick and was deflected in.

The league’s rules are pretty clear: A goal is disallowed if it’s either kicked directly into the net or off the goaltender. So why did this one count?

In a nutshell, they essentially determined Hellebuyck scored on himself while trying to make a play with the puck and that Petrovic’s prior kicking action didn’t ultimately matter. Or, to quote the official wording in the explanation from the league after the game, he “propelled the puck into his own net.”

“I haven’t seen the word propelled in the rulebook,” said Arniel.

The Jets couldn’t believe the decision, which gave Dallas a 3-2 lead at 3:51 of the final frame. Just 49 seconds later, Mikko Rantanen made it 4-2 and the Jets were reeling. Wyatt Johnston added some insurance about 10 minutes later as the Jets — who had played a rock-solid first 40 minutes on the road — were unable to recover.

“I don’t think it got away from us. We were right there in the game. One deciding goal that may or may not be a goal,” said forward Kyle Connor.

In a perfect world, the NHL would make their on-ice officials available to a pool reporter following the game to field a few questions about such a pivotal play. But unlike all the other big pro leagues — the NFL, the NBA and MLB — no such transparency is offered.

“That’s all I can say on it. That’s what we take the rule as. That’s why we thought maybe it was going to go our direction,” said Arniel. “The rest of it, they made the decision. We’ve got to live with it and we’ve got to move on from it.”

ADD IT TO THE PILE: There was another perplexing situation during the game involving the Stars and the men in stripes which added to Winnipeg’s confusion.

Why was Dallas forward Mason Marchment not penalized for using his stick to strike the shin pad of referee Graham Skilliter at the end of the second period? Marchment was angered by what he thought was a missed slash from Jets centre Mark Scheifele.

Rule 40.1 states “Any player who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official, in any manner attempts to injure an official, physically demeans, or deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall receive a game misconduct penalty.”

Apparently that’s not as cut-and-dried as it would appear. Cameras caught Marchment appearing to apologize to Skilliter at the start of the third period.

OLD HABITS DIE HARD: After falling 3-2 in Game 1 on Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre and then storming back with an impressive 4-0 victory in Game 2 in downtown Winnipeg, the Jets were looking to make it two straight wins as the series shifted to Texas.

History was not on their side.

The Jets have now lost eight straight playoff games on the road dating back to the opener against the Vegas Golden Knights back in April 2023. Winnipeg dropped the following two games in Sin City that series, both games last year in Colorado and all three this spring in the first round against St. Louis.

The Jets are now just 3-8 in the third game of a best-of-seven series in the 2.0 era, including five consecutive defeats.

“Regardless of the circumstances, I think we have to do a better job, kind of pushing back,” said Jets forward Morgan Barron.

This one was completely up for grabs until Petrovic gave the Stars their third lead of the day. Connor had answered Roope Hintz’s opener in the first period, and then Nino Niederreiter got the Jets back on even terms when he scored midway through the second.

“I thought we played a heck of a hockey game. Thought we played a really strong game,” Arniel said of the first two periods and the start of the third.

“Man, that (review) took a long time. I’m not sure why. Obviously it’s a big moment. But at the end of the day, we have to be ready. They came out and jumped on us. We have to be ready for that next shift and we gave up that quick one. But I like a lot of what we did.”

RANTANEN RUNS WILD AGAIN: Rantanen scored all three of his team’s goals in Game 1, then was held in check in Game 2 along with the rest of his teammates. But the Finnish power forward was up to his old tricks in this one, adding three more points (1G, 2A) while also extending his own playoff record.

Rantanen’s helper on Hintz’s opening power play goal at 2:27 of the first period made it 13 straight tallies by the Stars in which he recorded a point. The previous NHL mark, held by Mario Lemieux, was nine goals.

Although it came to an end when Thomas Harley made it 2-1 for Dallas late in the first — Rantanen was on the ice but didn’t factor into the play — he got the primary assist on Petrovic’s goal before scoring the dagger on the ensuing shift coming out of the marathon NHL review, taking advantage of some spotty coverage and a poor line change by the Jets.

“A bit of a breakdown by us,” said Connor. “They scored a couple (goals) off the rush, so we need to be better at that and take a look at that. That starts with everybody. Our D is gapping up and then, forwards are coming back. It’s never too late to come back. We’ve got to be able to stop them from going East to West the way he got into the zone like that.”

Rantanen now leads the NHL in playoff scoring with 18 points (9G, 9A) in 10 games.

KEY PLAY: The controversial Petrovic goal.

THREE STARS:

1. DAL RW Mikko Rantanen: 1 goal, 2 assists

2. DAL D Thomas Harley: 1 goal, 1 assist

3. DAL C Roope Hintz: 1 goal, 1 assist

EXTRA, EXTRA: The Jets rolled with the same lineup for a second straight game, while Dallas swapped out forward Oskar Back for Colin Blackwell.

Winnipeg went 0-for-4 on the power play and is now just 1-for-13 in the series. Dallas went 1-for-2.

Hellebuyck stopped 21 of 26 shots, while Jake Oettinger turned aside 23 of 25 pucks that came his way.

The Jets will hold an optional practice on Monday afternoon to prepare for Game 4 on Tuesday night.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg