Dallas Stars keep responding in NHL playoffs, now top-seeded Jets have to win Game 4 to get even

DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Stars keep responding in these NHL playoffs, like they have all season.

Now they go into Game 4 at home with a chance for a 3-1 series lead against the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

“It's the best response team that I’ve coached in my time here, coming off, not necessarily a poor effort, but a loss or maybe we’re not as good as we could be, (and) rectifying that quickly,” third-year Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “There’s an honesty to the group and the leadership in the group. They’re willing to accept hard coaching. You don’t have to sugarcoat it with them, which is nice."

Dallas has had to change the way it plays defensively since Miro Heiskanen injured his left knee Jan. 28, and the standout defenseman still hasn't played since. The Stars also were without top goal scorer Jason Robertson in the first round against Colorado, when they lost another Game 1 before back-to-back overtime playoff wins despite leading only a total of 62 seconds in regulation. They have two 4-0 losses this postseason, and rebounded from both with big wins, the latest 5-2 in Game 3 against Winnipeg on Sunday after being shut out by Connor Hellebuyck two nights earlier.

In the only NHL game Tuesday night, Winnipeg now must respond to even the series and regain home-ice advantage.

“For sure. It’s important. We need to get one on the road here," Jets forward Kyle Connor said. “That next one is the best chance we’ve got.”

When/Where to Watch: Game 4, Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Stars lead 2-1.

DeBoer said Monday that he still believes Heiskanen will play at some point in the series against the Jets. The defenseman had a scheduled day off during what was an optional practice.

The Stars got goals from defensemen Alexander Petrovic and Thomas Harley in Game 3 against the Jets. Petrovic, who has played twice as many postseason games as he did regular-season games, was credited with the go-ahead tally in the third period. A puck shot by Mikko Rantanen deflected off Hellebuyck and then the defenseman’s skate back toward the net and went in for a 3-2 lead.

Right after that disputed goal, Rantanen almost immediately scored yet another goal for the Stars.

“We had, whatever it was, a two-, three-minute situation where they scored a couple of goals, but at the end of the day, hopefully some of the stuff we did, the offense we created, the chances that we had, help us feel good about what we can do in Game 4,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “And that’s what we’re going to have to do. ... We have to find ways to score more goals than them. We had looks.”

Rantanen is having no problems scoring, with an NHL-high 18 points (nine goals and nine assists) and setting all kinds of records. He is the first player with 18 points in the first 10 games of the playoffs since a pair of Hall of Famers did that in 1989 — Wayne Gretzky for the Los Angeles Kings and Mario Lemieux for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After the primary assist on the go-ahead goal Sunday, Rantanen has factored into each of the last five game-winning goals for the Stars since overtime in Game 3 of the first round against Colorado, his former team. The previous franchise record was four in a row by Joe Nieuwendyk during their 1999 run to their only Stanley Cup title.

Rantanen had a goal and two assists to become the first player in NHL history with five three-point games through his first 10 games of a postseason. All of his have come in the last six games — twice against the Jets.

“He’s a tough guy. Like a lot of their skill players, it takes a lot to sort of shut those guys down,” Arniel said. "That’s all part of this. If we’re going to have success, not just him but we have to take away all their offense. ... We just have to make sure we continue to do a job on him and the rest of their top players.”

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

Winnipeg Jets' Nikolaj Ehlers dives to clear the puck in the second period of Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer, center, watches play against the Winnipeg Jets in the second period of Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel, center, talks Cole Perfetti (91) as they and assistant coach Davis Payne, right, leave the ice after the team's loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Winnipeg Jets center Morgan Barron (36) falls to the ice competing against Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen (96) in the first period of Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen (96) celebrates his goal in the third period of Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets in Dallas, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states after at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in the capital, Caracas.

The Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas. Another military installation in the capital was without power.

People in various neighborhoods rushed to the streets. Some could be seen in the distance from various areas of Caracas.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

Venezuela’s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.

“People to the streets!” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.”

This comes as the U.S. military has been targeting, in recent days, alleged drug-smuggling boats. On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the U.S. to combat drug trafficking.

Maduro also said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday that the U.S. wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.

Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the U.S. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes on boats in September.

U.S. President Donald Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land. The U.S. has also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy.

The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.

Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported on the explosions in Caracas on Saturday, showing images of the Venezuelan capital. Iran has been close to Venezuela for years, in part due to their shared enmity of the U.S.

Pedestrians walk past the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Residents evacuate a building near the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)