Jets beat the Stars 4-0 to force Game 6 in the Western Conference semifinal series

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Dallas Stars 4-0 on Thursday night to force a sixth game in the Western Conference semifinal series.

With Edmonton awaiting the winner in the conference final, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets avoided elimination to send the series back to Dallas for Game 6 on Saturday night.

“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy,” Stars forward Matt Duchene said. “We knew they weren’t going to roll over on us. We’re going to Dallas here and see if we can end it.”

Nikolaj Ehlers had two goals and Mark Scheifele and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored to back Hellebuyck in his second shutout of the playoffs.

Jake Oettinger stopped 31 shots for Dallas. Stars captain Jamie Benn sucker-punched Scheifele during a late scrum, with Benn given a misconduct penalty and possibly facing a suspension for Game 6.

“They’re going to have a big pushback the next game, so we’ve got to make sure our details are right and we bring it,” Hellebuyck said. “Our backs are against the wall and it’s time to play Jet hockey.”

Scheifele opened the scoring at 6:17 of the second period with a shot that deflected off two Dallas players. Scheifele's wrist shot from the right side hit Wyatt Johnston's stick, then struck Thomas Harley skate in front of the net.

Tyler Seguin missed a chance to tie it when hit the left post on a close-range shot with 3:19 left in the second. The Jets got a late power play in the period when Mason Marchment was called for holding Ehlers, but Oettinger thwarted the best scoring chance when Gabriel Vilardi's shot hit the goalie in the back after he got turned around on a wide scramble.

Ehlers made it 2-0 on a two-man advantage at 2:20 of the third, beating Oettinger in close from the right side. Dallas' Alexander Petrovic and Esa Lindell were called for tripping penalties in an 11-second span.

Vladislav Namestnikov scored on another power with 7:53 left, firing a wrist shot from the slot over Oettinger.

Ehlers had a short-handed empty-netter in the final minute.

“We don’t want to be done playing hockey and today showed that,” Ehlers said. “We’ve just got to take that to the next game.”

Scheifele also had an assist, and Kyle Connor and Neal Pionk each had two assists to help the Jets improve to 6-1 at home this postseason. They are 0-5 on the road.

“We haven’t played well on the road at all this playoff, so no better time than now to start,” Lowry said.

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

Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) celebrates his goal against Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) with Kyle Connor (81) during second period NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas Stars' Roope Hintz (24) reacts after a face-off against Winnipeg Jets' Morgan Barron (right) during first period NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save on Dallas Stars' Mason Marchment (27) as Dylan Demelo (2) defends during first period NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) makes a save as Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) looks for the bouncing puck during second period NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets' Adam Lowry (17) and Dallas Stars players push and shove at the end of a play during third period NHL playoff hockey action in Winnipeg, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)