Dallas Stars begin the 2025-26 season with a win thanks to Rantanen's performance

The Dallas Stars kicked off their 2025-26 campaign in Winnipeg against the Jets. It's not easy being the road team to begin the season; however, the Stars have to roll with the schedule the league handed them. The Stars had a significant first period, which was the reason they came away with the win on the road against the Jets. While the Stars dominated the game tonight, there are some areas they need to improve. Here are the four takeaways from the win against the Jets tonight.

Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets Recap: 4. Gulutzan isn't afraid to change the lines early

One thing I was happy to see from the Stars tonight was Gulutzan's willingness to change up the lines if the offense stalled early. That's what happened with Jason Robertson as he got promoted to the first line in the middle of the first period. The one thing that drove me crazy with Pete DeBoer was that he would wait for the last minute to change up the lines. Good job by Gulutzan in seeing that the top line was having some issues. Let's see if Gulutzan does the same thing on Saturday against the Avalanche.

Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets Recap: 3. Rantanen earned his paycheck tonight

Mikko Rantanen didn't take long to reintroduce himself to the Winnipeg Jets fanbase tonight. Rantanen opened up the scoring and got an assist on Nils Lundkvist and Jason Robertson's goal. Rantanen showed why Jim Nill wasn't afraid to open up the checkbook at the trade deadline last season. He is a two-way threat that's going to be on everyone's scouting report this season. I was afraid Rantanen was going to have an off night tonight, but that wasn't the case at all.

Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets Recap: 2. Jake Oettinger looked sharp

Jake Oettinger looked sharp tonight despite the goal that he gave up. He would have had a shutout if the defenders in front of him had done their jobs at even strength and on the power play. That's something we are going to talk about here in just a second. Oettinger looked like a starting Olympic goaltender tonight for the Stars. Hopefully, he doesn't allow tonight to go to his head because the Stars will need him on Saturday against the high-octane Avalanche offense.

Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets Recap: 1. What happened to the defense in the first period?

Kyle Connor responded to the Rantanen goal with one of his own, with the Stars' defense looking around in the zone. I don't know what they were doing in the zone, but I'm sure Gulutzan didn't like whatever they did. The Stars need to work on their defense moving forward. It looked good on the penalty kill tonight, but there's still room for improvement. The Stars had a good game tonight and earned the win. They will return on Saturday night to face the Colorado Avalanche before heading home for the home opener next week.