The Dallas Stars took control of their second round series against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night with a clinical 3-1 win in Game 4 at home. The Stars have now taken a commanding 3-1 lead in the series and seem destined to reach the Western Conference Finals for the third season in a row.

The Stars were given a big boost in this game even before the puck dropped in Game 4. Star defenseman Miro Heiskanen made his long-awaited return from a midseason injury after more than three months off the ice. When Heiskanen was introduced as a starter before the game, Stars head coach Peter DeBoer talked about how giddy he was about the moment via Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News.

“I got goosebumps,” DeBoer stated.

Heiskanen had been dealing with a nasty knee injury that had kept him out of the lineup since all the way back on Jan. 28. He has ben nearing a return throughout these playoffs, but ended up missing the entire first round series against the Colorado Avalanche and the first three games of this battle with the Jets.

As it turns out, Heiskanen had to jump through a lot of hoops to get back on the ice.

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“DeBoer said Miro Heiskanen flew to New York yesterday to get final approval from his surgeon to play,” Assimakopoulos wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The Stars also got Jason Robertson back earlier in this series, so they are now operating at full strength for the first time in months and playing some of their best hockey as they roll through the Presidents' Trophy winners.

With Heiskanen back in the lineup, the Stars surprisingly went with 11 forwards and seven defenseman in the starting lineup. After the win, Dallas is still undefeated when running that somewhat unique setup this season.

Now that the Stars have won three games in this series, it will be very difficult for the Jets to come back and beat them. DeBoer is 9-0 in Game 7s during the course of his career, so even if Winnipeg is able to win the next two games it would be a home underdog in a possible deciding game. With Heiskanen and Robertson both back in the lineup, there is an even stronger case for the Stars to be the team that advances.