Stars coach Pete DeBoer wanted to temper expectations about Miro Heiskanen’s return to the lineup for the first time in 105 days. He chose to dress seven defensemen and 11 forwards to limit Heiskanen’s ice time well below the 25 minutes a night he averaged in the regular season.

DALLAS -- Miro Heiskanen is expected to return from a knee injury for the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Winnipeg Jets at American Airlines Center on Tuesday 8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

And while two overtime victories and a game seven hat trick from Mikko Rantanen in the team’s opening round win over the Colorado Avalanche certainly served as a path to getting back on track, a daunting task awaited in the second round in the form of the western conference’s top team from the 2024-25 season, the Winnipeg Jets.