The Dallas Stars have a chance to close out their second-round series against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 and advance to the Western Conference Final, where the Edmonton Oilers have secured their spot.
The last time the Stars won a series in five games? They knocked out the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2020 Western Conference Final inside the bubble. Before that, it was all the way back in 2000—when they beat the San Jose Sharks in five in the conference semifinals (and took out Edmonton in five in the first round that year, too).
But before we look ahead, let’s talk about how they got here but rather, who got them here.
The answer: the Dallas Stars’ Finnish Mafia.
Over the course of their history, also including the Minnesota North Stars era—the Stars have had 31 Finnish players suit up for the franchise. This season, with the late additions of Mikael Granlund and Mikko Rantanen, that number is now 33.
The five Finns on this 2025 team have brought a new hope to Dallas Stars fans. Comeback wins, dominance on the blue line, and hat tricks galore — you name it. Suomi.
Let’s Stars with Defenseman Esa Lindell
Now in his 10th season with the Stars and making his sixth playoff appearance, Lindell is the vet of vets on the blue line and maybe the hardest guy to understand in interviews — very thick Finnish accent.
He’s averaging 25 minutes of ice time in this year’s playoffs, leading Stars defenseman with 31 blocked shots. That should tell you all you need to know about his top-tier reflexes and how solid he’s been in front of goalie Jake Oettinger.
Next up, the ace, Roope Hintz
During the 2022-23 playoffs, Hintz went on a heater with 24 points before the Stars were eliminated by Vegas in the conference final.
This postseason? He’s got 5 goals and 5 assists, playing a key role in setting up linemates Rantanen and Granlund. Hintz has a great ability for finding the perfect passing lanes, just take a look at his regular-season career-high 39 assists this year.
We’ve still got more to see from Roope in this playoff run.
Mikael Granlund, aka “Granny”
D210 Sports was able to do an exclusive interview with Mikael Granlund before the start of playoffs. He’s a very calm, cool, and collected guy — until he hits the ice. You then see a fire light up. He’s out there making hits on the board, finding shooting lanes, and drawing penalties.
He scored his first ever NHL career playoff hat trick in Game 4, netting all three of Dallas’ goals against the Jets. Take that, Connor Hellebuybk.
One thing Granlund told D210 Sports was how happy he was playing on a team that “actually has a chance to win something.”
Now 11 games into the playoffs, Granlund says the job isn’t done:
“We have a lot of work to do. That was a good win, but we’ve got a tough game ahead of us in Winnipeg, so let’s get ready for that.”
The Return of Miro Heiskanen
Game 4 of this round marked Heiskanen’s official return after a knee injury that had kept him out for over three months.
“It’s hard, for sure. You never want to miss any time and want to be playing,” Heiskanen said. “Stuff happens in this sport and it’s something you have to deal with. You just have to try to stay positive, and the guys did a great job to beat Colorado. Now I had a chance to come back and be playing again. Of course, it’s frustrating to be out and watching the games. But it’s great to be back now.”
In Heiskanen’s playoff career: 16 goals, 45 assists — a total of 61 points in 5 postseasons. Outstanding.
He wasted no time making an impact either, recording an assist on Granlund’s power-play goal to complete the hat trick.
Head coach Pete DeBoer said he had “goosebumps” when the American Airlines Center crowd roared as Heiskanen was announced in the starting lineup.
“I thought it was a perfect night,” said DeBoer.
“He got 15 minutes in and made a huge play for us on the power play. You can see what he has with his composure and patience with the puck, it’s hard not to play him more. We have to fight that urge. Talking to him after he got through the game, he feels good so mission accomplished.”
“The Moose” Mikko Rantanen
This is a guy who was traded two times this season. First from his former longtime team the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes where he played 13 regular season games. Then he landed in Dallas and since then, he’s become a true “Star.”
It’s nearly shocking to describe what the Stars have seen from Mikko Rantanen in the postseason. He leads the NHL with 19 points in 11 games. He’s the first player in NHL history with five three-point games through a team’s first 10 playoff games in a single postseason.
“He’s just getting started. He’s just warming up here,” DeBoer said after the Stars’ Game 3 win against Winnipeg.
“I think he’s on a mission.”
That mission continues in the utmost professional manner from Rantanen who simply comes in to get the job done. Before Game 4, Mikko Rantanen told D210 Sports what it would mean to get a win in Game 4 and take the series lead 3-1.
“It’s important because Winnipeg hasn’t lost the game at home yet, so they’re a good team. Oh, they lost to us, I guess,” he said with a laugh, realizing the Stars’ Game 1 win in Winnipeg.
“But before that, you know, but they’re a good home team, so it’s a big game, you know, we can expect them to play their best game of the series. We got to match the intensity.”
Now up 3-1 in the series, the Stars have a huge opportunity to close it out on the road and punch their ticket to the Western Conference Final. And with the Oilers already through, whoever wins this series gets home ice.
The only question now: which one of the Finns steps up in Game 5?
