Mikko Rantanen has second straight hat trick as Stars beat Jets 3-2 in series opener

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mikko Rantanen had a natural hat trick in the second period, Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots and the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the second-round series.

Rantanen, who had a hat trick in the third period of the Stars’ Game 7 win over his former Colorado teammates, is the third player in NHL history — and the first in nearly 40 years — with hat tricks in consecutive playoff games.

Edmonton’s Jari Kurri accomplished the feat in Games 5 and 6 of the 1985 Campbell Conference final, and Chicago’s Doug Bentley did the same in Games 4 and 5 of the 1944 Stanley Cup Final.

“Sometimes it goes that way,” said Rantanen, acquired from Carolina at the trade deadline. “The third goal goes off them and goes five—hole. Or when you’re going through a tough stretch, you feel like you could only pray for those and those never come."

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Winnipeg.

Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, who had won four in a row at Canada Life Centre. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves.

Scheifele returned after sustaining an upper-body injury in Game 5 in the first round against St. Louis. Dallas forward Jason Robertson was back after injuring a knee in the final game of the regular season.

The Jets led the NHL with 116 points to earn home-ice advantage through the playoffs, while Dallas was second in the Central Division and third in the Western Conference with 106.

“We know we just gave up home-ice advantage,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “And that wasn’t a game where they rolled over top of us for three periods. That was a game where we weren’t at our best."

Niederreiter got the sold-out crowd cheering when his sharp-angled backhander beat Oettinger at 3:30 of the second period. He became the NHL’s first Swiss-born player to skate in 100 postseason games.

Rantanen tied it at 8:43 with his sixth goal of the playoffs. His second goal was a tip of Thomas Harley’s point shot with 5:39 left, and he made it 3-1 on the power play 2:17 later when his shot went in off Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg.

"Sometimes it’s ups and downs in hockey and now it’s going well individually and as a team,” Rantanen said.

Rantanen extended his points streak to four games with eight goals and six assists across the stretch. He has 15 points this postseason.

“He’s one of the best players in the world and he’s just on fire right now, so we’re just trying to get him the puck,” said center Sam Steele, who assisted on Rantanen’s first goal of the night.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Winnipeg Jets' Adam Lowry (17) and Neal Pionk (4) collide with Dallas Stars' Roope Hintz (24) during first period NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets players crowd the net around Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger trying to score in the last minutes of the third period NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Canada, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) celebrates the win over the Winnipeg Jets with Thomas Harley (55) in NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Canada, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Linesman Devin Berg (87) gets between Dallas Stars' Roope Hintz (24) and Winnipeg Jets' Dylan Demelo (2) during the third period of an NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel talks with players during a timeout against the Dallas Stars during the third period of an NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) makes the save on Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) as Gabriel Vilardi (13) looks for the rebound during the third period of an NHL playoff hockey game in Winnipeg, Canada, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) makes a save on Winnipeg Jets' Mason Appleton (22) during the third period of an NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen, right, celebrates his goal against the Winnipeg Jets with teammates during the second period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen (96) scores on Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) during second period NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

The NFL set a record for fewest punts per game in 2025, and wild-card weekend was filled with fourth-down fun and folly as punters were mostly spectators, especially Chicago's Tory Taylor, who never stepped off the sideline in the Bears' come-from-behind win over the Green Bay Packers.

In all, teams converted 15 of 29 fourth down attempts on wild-card weekend, when there were only 41 punts, nine of them Monday night in the Houston Texans' 30-6 rout of Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bears first-year coach Ben Johnson was particularly aggressive, going for it a half dozen times in fourth down Saturday night, including two backfires in the first half that led to a pair of Green Bay touchdowns and put the Bears in a 21-3 halftime hole.

Caleb Williams was intercepted on fourth-and-6 from the Packers 40-yard line, leading to Jordan Love's 18-yard touchdown throw, and Williams threw incomplete on fourth-and-5 from his own 32. That one led to Love's TD throw on fourth-and-goal from the Bears 2 that gave Green Bay an 18-point halftime cushion.

The Packers couldn't capitalize on another turnover on downs by Chicago just before halftime because Brandon McManus missed a 55-yard field goal on the final play after Williams threw incomplete deep on fourth-and-4 from the Green Bay 37.

When Prime Video's sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung asked the Bears' coach about his aggressive approach and going for it on fourth down multiple times on his own side of the field, Johnson replied, “Yeah, we want to maximize our possessions and we want to go for fourth-down plays.”

Her follow-up was about how to slow down Green Bay's efficient offense.

“That's a big reason why we're being aggressive on offense, so that we can extend our drives and score points ourselves,” Johnson insisted. “It's a really good offense we're going against.”

Although the Bears would convert just twice on their six fourth downs — Green Bay was 3 for 3 on fourth down — that strategy paid off in the end. Williams threw a 27-yard pass to Rome Odunze to the Packers' 30-yard line, which led to the TD that pulled Chicago to 27-24 with 4:21 remaining.

Johnson said the game plan featured an aggressive fourth-down mentality, and "I think where it gets misconstrued is, there’s a lack of confidence in your defense when you do that. I think the opposite, I think it’s because I have confidence in our defense and their ability to stop teams in the red zone."

“I’m never going to apologize for being aggressive or doing things that might be a little unorthodox,” Johnson added, "if it’s what we deem is best for us to win a ballgame.”

Johnson was the Lions' offensive coordinator when Detroit blew a 17-point halftime lead and lost the NFC championship to San Francisco 34-31 after the 2023 season. In that game, Lions coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down twice in field-goal range but came up short, later saying he'd do it again if he could.

Those failures didn't curtail the Lions' aggressive fourth-down philosophy, one that Johnson took to Chicago when he was hired by the Bears a year ago.

He had plenty of company over the weekend as a trend from the regular season continued. There were just 3.55 punts per game per team this season and that figure fell in the first round of the playoffs with teams averaging just 3.41 punts per game.

The Panthers and Rams got the fun going Saturday when early fourth-down failures led to touchdowns by each team.

Trevor Lawrence thought he had the first down when the Jaguars went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Buffalo 9 only to see the review reveal his shin had hit the ground shy of the first-down marker, a fourth-down faux pas that proved pivotal in Jacksonville's 27-24 loss to the Bills.

The Bills twice went for it on fourth-and-1 deep in Jaguars territory. Josh Allen had a 4-yard keeper on the first one and was carried 9 yards on an astonishing tush push to the 1 that also led to a Buffalo touchdown.

The 49ers didn't attempt a single fourth-down conversion in their 23-19 win at Philadelphia, where the Eagles were 3-for-5 on fourth down.

The Patriots converted their only fourth-down try, on fourth-and-4 from the Chargers' 30, which led to a field goal. When the Chargers took a delay after failing to induce an offsides call and then punted from midfield, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said, “I think Jim Harbaugh's been watching the games this weekend.”

And when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin chose to take the three points with a 32-yard field goal try rather that chancing it fourth-and-3 from the Houston 14 Monday night, ESPN analyst Troy Aikman commented: “We're in a time as we all know when a lot of offenses would be going for it ... But points are going to be (at) a premium. You've got two defenses that are capable of dominating their opponent. Get 'em when you can.”

Well, points certainly were at a premium for Pittsburgh, which hung in there most of the night before the Texans' 23-0 fourth-quarter blitz in what might have been Rodgers' farewell game.

If so, Rodgers' final pass was a pick-6 by safety Calen Bullock, whose 50-yard interception return for a touchdown came on ... you guessed it, fourth down.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson reacts during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)