The Dallas Stars have consistently earned their position as a high seed in the Pete DeBoer era, but now as the lower seed, Dallas has a rare chance to take a lead at home in Game 3 of the second round series against the Winnipeg Jets.

Dallas split the two road games in the whiteout conditions of Winnipeg's raucous home crowd, and now must hold serve at home to take control of the series.

Interestingly, it is the only time under DeBoer that Dallas has come home for a Game 3 with a tie series. The only other time Dallas has been the road team under his control was against Vegas in the Western Conference Final in 2023, when the Stars had lost both games in overtime in Las Vegas.

Dallas has gone 3-1 at the American Airlines Center this playoffs, including a Game 7 win against Colorado. Their only loss was in Game 1 of the series against the Avalanche, which was their eighth opening game loss of a series in a row. That streak was broken against Winnipeg.

The Jets and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck come in with momentum off of a 4-0 shutout of the Stars in Game 2, which was only the second game of the postseason where Hellebuyck posted over a .900 save percentage in a game. Hellebuyck has yet to finish a game on the road without being pulled.

It is critical for the Stars not to let the likely Vezina Trophy winner gain momentum on the road and become comfortable, because he is far and away Winnipeg's most dangerous weapon. A hot goaltender is arguably the best way to run all the way to a Stanley Cup, and Hellebuyck has proven that he has the talent to do it. It has long been a question mark as to why it hasn't materialized in the playoffs.

Dallas does not want to be the team on the other side of him figuring it out if they have hopes of their own Stanley Cup run.

The St. Louis Blues succeeded at getting Hellebuyck off his game in the opening round series by constantly sending bodies to the front of the net, getting him uncomfortable and shielding him from any easy saves. Dallas did not succeed in doing that in Game 2.

Miro Heiskanen was once again ruled out, so the regular six defensemen will once again be tasked with shutting down the Jets offense. Jason Robertson continues his return to the ice, still not quite looking like he is back to 100 percent. He remains on the third line, while Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen stay locked in with Mikael Granlund.

This will be the first playoff day game at the American Airlines Center in quite a while, and Dallas needs to be ready to go from the jump. Winnipeg played consistently during the afternoon on weekends with the Canadian national television schedule.

If Dallas can take a lead in the series, they will have an opportunity to gain a 3-1 series lead at the American Airlines Center for the first time since 2008. The last time the Stars took a 2-1 lead at home was in 2022 against the Calgary Flames, but Dallas lost Game 4 in a series that eventually went seven games.

Puck drop is at 3:30 p.m. CDT.

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