With Miro Heiskanen’s return, the Finnish Mafia is now whole for the Stars’ playoff run
As the Dallas Stars stumbled into the playoffs coming off a seven-game losing streak to end the season, they were in desperate need of a jolt of energy.
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.
More heroics followed from Rantanen in game one (a hat trick in a 3-2 win) and game three (one goal and two assists in a 5-2 win) to help give Dallas the edge in the series ahead of a pivotal game four at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night.
The case could be made that the Stars more than had enough of a jolt to discard the lull they ended the season on. But for good measure, a huge boost arrived to the team on Tuesday, as star defenseman Miro Heiskanen made his return to the ice after missing almost four months with a major knee injury he suffered on Jan. 28. That boost, in the locker room’s eyes, could be enough to get the team to the ultimate prize in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Big boost,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “I got goosebumps when the crowd cheered when they announced his name. That’s a great shot of energy for our group tonight. We needed a little bit of a shot of energy, and we got it from Miro.”
While he only played close to 15 minutes on the ice, Heiskanen was crucial in keeping Winnipeg’s deceitful attack at bay on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he assisted on the dagger goal from fellow Finland native Mikael Grunlund to close out his first career playoff hat trick in a 3-1 win.
“I tried to be smart and handle the pressure well,” Heiskanen said. “It’s a long time between the last game, but it was fun to be back. The guys helped me out pretty well.”
“He’s worked his butt off,” goalie Jake Oettinger said. “Obviously, he’s such a big part of this team. The fact that we get to add a guy like that for a postseason run is pretty incredible.”
In Heiskanen’s return, the Stars now have their fan-coined “Finnish Mafia” at full strength heading into a closeout opportunity in game five and a playoff stretch that rightly has fans thinking of the franchise’s second Stanley Cup. Heiskanen, Rantanen, Grunlund, Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell, all natives of Finland, might work in some dirty areas on the ice. But much like their “business in waste management,” there’s also mass amounts of production that comes along with it.
“It’s fun, for sure,” Heiskanen said about playing with his fellow countrymen for the first time on Tuesday. “It’s great to have them, they’re great players and important pieces of our team. It was fun to finally be on the ice with them.”
With Rantanen’s acquisition on March 7 and Grunlund’s acquistion on Feb. 1 in two midseason trade deals, the Stars had yet to put all of their new pieces on the ice with Heiskanen before Tuesday. With everyone together for the first time, it was Grunlund who flexed his impact with all three goals.
“Granny led the way,” DeBoer said. “What he does on the ice is one thing, but the guy oozes leadership. Our Finnish group there, he’s kind of the elder statesman of that group. He’s won internationally, he’s got a lot of respect amongst that group of guys.”
“Obviously, Mikko has been playing at such an incredible level,” Grunlund said. “But we need some help. Hopefully, next game it’s someone else, but all that matters is getting these wins.”
While it may take Heiskanen a few games to skate off the rust, having his team at full strength is something that DeBoer could only shake his head at in the postgame press conference while writing in his new embarassment of riches.
“Just to write that lineup on your lineup card to have those options for the first time,” he said. “Tonight was the first time we had our full team together, and everyone’s still not 100-percent. It’s a nice feeling to have. I hope we can keep everybody in a healthy place so we can keep it going for a little bit.”
Well, DeBoer might be wrong about one thing.
With a win on Thursday, the Stars will close out the top-seeded Jets and head into a potential conference finals rematch from 2024 against the Edmonton Oilers. If Dallas continues to take care of business, it’ll be longer than “a little bit” before this run finds its conclusion.
“We feel like when we have everyone,” Oettinger said. “We’re a tough out.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 11:37 PM.
