The Dallas Stars might just want to wrap up their second-round series when they have a chance in Game 6 on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center.
They don’t want to let goalie Connor Hellebuyck and the Jets get another game in Winnipeg.
You can watch the NHL Western Conference playoff game, the only one being played on Saturday, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on ABC or live stream it on ESPN+, fubo TV (FREE trial) or DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount).
The Stars have a 3-2 series lead and aren’t facing elimination Saturday night at home. But a loss would send them quickly back to Winnipeg. That is where Hellebuyck has back-to-back shutouts and hasn’t allowed a goal to Dallas in more than 141 minutes on the ice since Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick in the second period of Game 1. Even more in Dallas’ favor, Winnipeg has lost nine consecutive road games in the playoffs since 2023.
Winnipeg Jets (56-22-4, in the Central Division) vs. Dallas Stars (50-26-6, in the Central Division)
AT A GLANCE: Dallas; Saturday, 8 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE:Stars -153, Jets +128; over/under is 5.5
TV: ABC
LIVESTREAM: ESPN+, fubo TV (FREE trial) or DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount)
NHL PLAYOFFS SECOND ROUND: Stars lead series 3-2
TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Duchene has 30 goals and 52 assists for the Stars. Mikko Rantanen has nine goals and 10 assists over the past 10 games.
Mark Scheifele has 39 goals and 48 assists for the Jets. Kyle Connor has three goals and nine assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Stars: 6-4-0, averaging 2.7 goals, five assists, 4.8 penalties and 12.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.
Jets: 4-6-0, averaging 2.7 goals, 5.1 assists, 5.6 penalties and 17 penalty minutes while giving up 3.4 goals per game.
HOW TO WATCH
WHAT: Winnipeg Jets at Dallas Stars, Game 6 of NHL Western Conference best-of-seven series; Stars lead 3-2WHEN: 8 p.m. EDT, on Saturday, May 17WHERE: American Airlines Center, DallasTV: ABCLIVESTREAM: ESPN+, fubo TV (FREE trial) or DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount)
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A game preview, per The Associated Press:
The winner of this series, which will have home-ice advantage in the next round, advances to play a resting Edmonton team in the Western Conference Final. The Oilers wrapped up their second round-victory over Vegas with a 1-0 overtime win in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Dallas is trying to reach the West final for the third season in a row, and lost in six games to Edmonton last year. Winnipeg’s last conference final was in 2018.
Stars captain Jamie Benn sucker-punched Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele during a late scrum in Game 5. Benn was given a misconduct penalty then, and on Friday was fined by the NHL the maximum-allowed $5,000, but avoided a suspension.
“My face hurts. There’s not much I can really say in this situation,” Scheifele said Friday before the Jets flew to Texas.
Scheifele got credited with the opening goal Thursday on a wrist shot that deflected off two Dallas players and past goaltender Jake Oettinger, who had 31 saves. The Jets had a two-man advantage after consecutive tripping periods early in the third period and went ahead 2-0 when Nikolaj Ehlers scored — he added a late empty-netter for his fifth goal in the series.
“They played with a desperation level like it was an elimination game. We’re a little bit off that,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said.
Dallas has won five home games in a row since starting the postseason against Colorado with its eighth consecutive Game 1 loss — an unexplainable streak that finally ended with the Rantanen-led win to open this series. That was after his four-point third period with a hat trick in Game 7 against the Avalanche, his former team.
If the Stars do need another Game 7 on Monday night, they have won all three they have played under DeBoer over three seasons. He is the only coach or player in NHL history to be part of nine Game 7 victories, with four different teams, and hasn’t lost one.
Still, with a chance now to close out the series at home, Dallas would prefer not to have to play another one.
Winnipeg Jets’ Vladislav Namestnikov (7) returns to the bench with teammates after scoring on the Dallas Stars during the third period of an NHL playoff hockey game in Winnipeg, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)AP
“We have to approach this like a Game 7, even though we have the luxury of it not being a Game 7,” DeBoer said.
The Jets, meanwhile, are trying to stave off elimination for the third time this postseason.
“It would mean that we’re not going on vacation yet,” Ehlers said. “We want to go to Dallas and win that game. … It’s been so special to play here in front of this crowd, and we want to repay them by coming back and playing a Game 7 here.”
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl