Tonight feels like a pivotal game in the series tonight. While the Dallas Stars have done a good job against the Winnipeg Jets in this playoff series, tonight worries me a lot. The Jets are going to come into tonight's game and try to steal a win on the road against the Stars. That's the last thing the Stars want because the Jets have home-ice advantage and have done well at home this season. The Stars need to focus hard tonight and make sure all the pressure is on Winnipeg heading into game 5 on Thursday.
The Jets have one of the best home environments in the Western Conference this season. There's a reason the Jets won the Presidents Trophy this year. They took advantage of their home crowd and won many home games. They finished the regular season 30-7-4 on their home ice. While the playoffs have been a different story based on their first series against the Blues, that record should scare any team in the playoffs. It feels like an automatic death sentence going on the road and playing there.
The Stars need to come into this game tonight and shut the Jets down like Jon Taffer shuts down bad bar owners on his TV Show, Bar Rescue. They need to play some of the best hockey they've played all season long if they want to get that 3-1 series lead heading back to Winnipeg later this week. Having them on the brink of elimination would be perfect for the Stars. The last thing the Stars need is this series going seven games.
That means everyone has to show up and contribute to the goal scoring tonight. Game 3 was a perfect example of that because Mikko Rantanen didn't have to score a hat trick to give the Stars a chance of beating the Jets. They had goals from multiple players, including Alex Petrovic, whom I didn't expect would find the back of the net. With all due respect to the veteran defenseman, it's rare for defensemen to score goals for the Stars outside of Thomas Harley or Miro Heiskanen.
In conclusion, I want to see a wired Stars team tonight. The last thing the Stars need to look back on if they get eliminated is overwhelming the Jets in game 4 at the American Airlines Center. It would be like Thor attempting to kill Thanos and missing his head with Stormbreaker. Going into this game, the Stars have the firepower to win and be up 3-1 heading to Winnipeg on Thursday. Let's hope the Stars have that urgency when they take the ice to Pantera tonight.